Helping with Cleanup? Your Volunteer Hours Can Count for Your County!

If you live or work in Florida or a close surrounding area, Hurricane Irma most likely affected you in some way. As CPAs, we focus on your financial health, while we also care about the well-being and future of our community…and now the massive cleanup that must be addressed in the coming weeks and months.Thankfully, financial assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) begins almost immediately once your county is declared a Federal Disaster Area, alleviating cash flow concerns for your area.County governments must match 25% of funds received from FEMA, and volunteer hours count towards the match—saving money (read “your tax dollars”) and providing potential funds for future budget planning in your county to use for other critical needs.If you or your company offers support to those who fell victim to this disaster, make your volunteer hours count towards the matching funds by considering the following criteria:

• All volunteer hours spent preparing for and recovering from Hurricane Irma must be tracked, recorded and reported to your county Emergency Management Center including:
  • Your name;
  • Date(s) of volunteer services;
  • Number of hours worked;
  • Description of tasks completed;
  • Address of location requiring aid.
• All pre-and post-storm volunteer hours count including:
  • Sandbagging and/or boarding homes or businesses;
  • Emergency shelter assistance;
  • Donation of equipment and materials;
  • Distribution of food and water;
  • Debris removal;
  • Home or office clean-up and repairs;
  • Calls made to check on clients, colleagues and neighbors.

Documentation guidelines don’t require volunteers to sign in while volunteering and the report may be created post-event.For documentation worksheets and additional information regarding requirements for matching fund qualifications, please refer to Florida Disaster.org. Remember, while these funds may not help your personal cash flow during a disaster, they will help to manage vital financial forecasting for your county.Most importantly, as we work together to make our communities whole again, we salute our noble community first-responders and volunteers and pray for all those struggling during the aftermath of both hurricanes Irma and Harvey.If you need a proven advisor to assist you with disaster planning or other CPA services, contact our accounting team at Office@CPAsite.com or 904-396-5400.