All Hands Volunteers leverages the power and passion of individual volunteers in to help communities in dire need (typically in the aftermath of natural disasters) and, in the process, transforms lives. An on-the-ground volunteer presence (and the "do-power" of those volunteers) makes this organization incredibly effective at delivering real and appropriate assistance in environments that are often inherently chaotic and often not very amenable to the top-down decisionmaking characteristic of traditional nonprofits. AHV's model uses volunteers in an innovative and amazingly effective way.

I have been a board member of All Hands Volunteers since its inception, I have volunteered with All Hands in Thailand, in Mississippi, and in Haiti, and I am a faithful yearly donor. When a disaster happens, some people will never be content to stand by while others undertake the physical work of recovery. Some people want to do that work in person. These are the people that get on planes and go to disaster zones. When they do, they find All Hands. They come to our base, we give them a place to eat, sleep, and bathe and tools to work with, and they become part of an incredible community. It's a community of volunteers who take matters into their own hands, and with the field-tested methods of All Hands Volunteers, that impulse to help becomes stunningly effective community-based recovery. The organization, through its volunteers, assists individuals and families in rebuilding homes and schools, helps other organizations by becoming an ad hoc on-the-ground labor force, and facilitates innovation in recovery by having a multitude of passionate, hard-working people working- and creatively thinking- on the ground. All Hands Volunteers is an exemplary organization for its impact, its efficiency, and its innovation, and I am privileged to be associated with it.