The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Monday announced that it is calling for volunteers to help in the production of family food packs (FFPs) for the agency’s disaster preparedness and response efforts, including the ongoing relief operations for Kanlaon-affected families in Negros Island.

The DSWD Field Office-7 — Central Visayas, which is providing resource augmentation to the local government units (LGUs) affected by the restiveness of the Mt. Kanlaon, is urging volunteers to help in the production of FFPs at the Visayas Disaster Resource Center (VDRC) in Mandaue City, Cebu.

VDRC officer-in-charge Jun Eso sounded the call as he cited the importance of expanded manpower to sustain the resource augmentation to Mt. Kanlaon-hit LGUs as well as the proactive preparation for other disasters and emergencies.

“We actually need more people to help us repack the goods. Thus, we call for more volunteers from either the government or private sector to help fast-track the production of FFPs and increase the stockpile should the worst-case scenario of Mt. Kanlaon occurs,” Eso said.

The VDRC warehouse is located at the Wicker and Vine compound, B. Suico Street, Upper Tingub, Mandaue City. It is the main production hub of the DSWD serving the whole Visayas and Mindanao regions, and is mandated to maintain not lower than 100,000 boxes of FFPs a day.

Interested volunteers may contact Anniebelle Diaz at mobile number 0961-7211127, for scheduling and related inquiries.

The agency’s main repacking hub, the National Resource Operations Center (NROC) in Pasay City, is also open for volunteers, according to the Facebook post of the National Resource and Logistics Management Bureau (NRLMB) which manages the warehouse.