Prince George, B.C.  – Tomorrow morning at 8,  the City of Prince George will be  opening a volunteer centre, to recruit train, schedule and deploy volunteers to help receive and support evacuees from the Cariboo wildfires.

The centre has been opened to manage increasing volunteer personnel demands and the willingness of Prince George residents to help with the response.

The “Volunteer PG Centre” will be managed by Volunteer PG, a volunteer recruitment and referral agency serving the Prince George area. The Centre’s reception area will be located in Room 205 of the Prince George Conference and Civic Centre.

To date, the City’s volunteer needs have been met by pre-trained volunteers. Through this week, the City has been working with a number of agencies to develop a list of additional volunteers to help respond to the growing number of evacuees.

Volunteers are primarily needed to receive and register evacuees. However, there are a number of additional positions that will be assigned based on service demands within the reception centre.

A number of shift options are available. Volunteers who are available during the midnight to 8:00am period are especially needed.

Citizens interested in volunteering can also complete an online application form which will be made available on the City’s website. “We are aware that some individuals expressed interest in volunteering at the CNC Reception Centre. These individuals are urged to complete the online application,” says the City’s Manager of Social Development, Chris Bone who is helping to organize the new centre.

A phone number for the centre and a link to the online form will be distributed and promoted later today.