SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- To avoid chaotic situations such as when thousands of volunteers came forward after the Cosco Busan oil spill eager to help with the clean-up, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has created a cabinet-level post to help state agencies manage all those helping hands.
The head of the governor’s commission on volunteerism, Karen Baker, will now manage disaster relief donations as a cabinet secretary and her office will act as a point person between agencies and interested volunteers during times of trouble.
Many of the 2,000 thousand worried volunteers who showed up along San Francisco Bay and the coast after the Cosco Busan oil spill to help clean beaches and collect birds were initially turned away. Those in charge said they were surprised by the response and didn't know how to handle the crowds.
Last fall over 10 thousand people volunteered to help during the San Diego wildfires and some $23 million dollars in private relief donations poured in from all over the state.
(jro)
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KCBS's Holly Quan reports
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