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News and Record, Greensboro, NC
People and Places, Sunday Februarey 12, 2006
The Volunteer Center of Greensboro - Volunteer of the Week
Nicky Smith
ncdisasteraid.org
What he does:
On Labor Day weekend, Nicky Smith was driving to the North Carolina mountains for a well-deserved vacation with his wife and daughter when his pastor called.
"He told me that he needed my help," Smith remembered. "At that time, everyone was concerned about the people in the Gulf Coast who had been put out of their homes by Hurricane Katrina, and I knew there had to be some way I could help them."
As Smith continued driving, he remembers rays of sunlight crossing the sky. "It was as if God reached down and said, 'Nicky, you have a real talent to work with geeky computer people. Please do something with your communications skills to bring the community together to help,'" Smith said.
Within two hours, Smith had solicited the help of 26 friends and coworkers to design a brand new website, www.ncdisasteraid.org, which registered volunteers, created a secure site for donations, and posted information on housing, fundraising events, and other news about local relief efforts.
"We launched the site on Monday morning and immediately attracted the attention of every blogger in the US," Smith said. "We were doing something in the Piedmont Triad that had never been done before. Here was a single site where people could visit not just to get information but also to find out how they could help," he said.
The site brought together individuals, civic clubs, and religious groups of all denominations all wanting to help Hurricane Katrina evacuees. More than 3,000 people a day visited the website.
Smith is quick to credit his inanimate helpers, too. "I couldn't have done this if I didn't have a half million dollar infrastructure behind me," he said. As president and CEO of CAROLINANET.COM, a local server and web hosting company, Smith volunteered his computer network to host the site. "While I volunteer just a couple of hours a week right now, those guys volunteer 24/7 and never quit. They're the best kind of volunteers!"
Why he does it:
"I really feel that I had a calling to create this website," Smith said. "Unfortunately, I ignored my family that weekend, but I was so taken in by the thought that what I was doing was going to help a lot of people."
Even now that the Triad's involvement in Katrina relief has slowed, Smith plans to maintain www.ncdisasteraid.org for the next emergency. "Whether it's a flood in eastern North Carolina or another hurricane or something right here in the Triad, we'll be ready to bring the entire community together to help," he said.
In the aftermath of the Katrina disaster, a group of local nonprofit agencies banded together to form the Guilford Crisis Resolution Council, which meets regularly to discuss disaster preparedness and address immediate community issues such as homelessness. "We'll be right here helping them. We'll all be ready to work together for a common cause," Smith said.
What he tells others:
Smith believes that if something's not fun, it's not worth doing. "That's just my philosophy in life. At work, I love helping people sell their brilliant ideas on the Internet. Through my volunteer service, I've been able to touch so many people and not just on that Labor Day weekend.
"I want to help people recognize their potential not just for volunteering, but for sharing their talents. I've learned that no matter what your skill or talent, it can be used to help somebody."
If you'd like to register as a volunteer for future emergencies, call Lisa Kiser at The Volunteer Center of Greensboro, 373-1633 lisakaiser@volunteergso.org or register at www.ncdisasteraid.org
Want to know more about volunteering:
Contact the Volunteer Center of Greensboro, 1500 Yanceyville St, Greensboro, NC 27405, or call (336) 373-0670. See the Volunteer of the week on the WFMY News 2 Good Morning Show and noon news each Monday.
 Click Here and you can watch the interview from The WFMY News 2 Good Morning Monday February 12, 2006 Show
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