Two-year investment strengthens Team Rubicon’s Volunteer Mobilization and sustains the Ready Reserve Fund as deployment costs rise
LOS ANGELES, November 9, 2026 /3BL/ - The Wells Fargo Foundation is investing $2 million in Team Rubicon to help expand its veteran-led volunteer network and timely response to natural disasters through its Ready Reserve Fund. The two-year commitment will strengthen the deployment of Team Rubicon's volunteers, known as Greyshirts, to the communities that need them, when they need them, and sustain the organization's readiness to respond wherever disasters strike.
The grant is split equally between two priorities: $1 million will support Volunteer Mobilization, the work of identifying, preparing and deploying trained volunteers through volunteer management technology, travel and logistics coordination, and mobilization staffing. The remaining $1 million goes to the Team Rubicon’s Ready Reserve Fund, flexible funding that allows Greyshirts to deploy wherever need emerges, including disasters that draw limited public attention.
Long after a disaster strikes, Team Rubicon volunteers stay to help communities recover, which can be costly. Getting Greyshirts into the field and keeping them there is one of Team Rubicon's largest disaster response expenses, and the cost climbs each year with the price of airfare, lodging, fuel and ground transportation. When a disaster hits, Team Rubicon's mobilization team matches volunteers to the skills an operation needs, from sawyers and heavy equipment operators in the first days to general responders who muck out homes and clear debris.
That model matters most in rural, remote, and low-attention disasters, where Team Rubicon may not yet have a strong local volunteer base and must bring Greyshirts in from across the country. The funding also sustains the long work of recovery. Months after Hurricane Helene, Greyshirts were still serving in North Carolina and Georgia, and in January 2026 Team Rubicon sent its eighth wave of volunteers to Jamaica following Hurricane Melissa.
As a lead donor since 2020, Wells Fargo helps ensure:
- Communities receive assistance faster after disasters
- Volunteers are deployed wherever need is greatest
- Recovery efforts continue long after initial response efforts conclude
- Veterans can play an active role in serving communities as they recover
“Every hour saved getting Greyshirts on the ground means faster help for survivors, and Wells Fargo's support lets us invest in the systems that make that possible as our costs rise," said Mike Watkins, Vice President of Operations at Team Rubicon.
“The veteran-led volunteers at Team Rubicon are a force for good when disaster strikes,” said Anna Bard, head of disaster philanthropy and employee giving at Wells Fargo. “Team Rubicon has established a standard of excellence when it comes to activating volunteers and staying through the hardest recovery period. The Wells Fargo Foundation is proud to expand its support of Team Rubicon as a way to help people get back to their homes, schools and businesses."
ABOUT TEAM RUBICON:
Team Rubicon is a veteran-led humanitarian organization that serves global communities before, during, and after disasters and crises. Founded following the Haiti earthquake in 2010, the organization has grown to more than 200,000 volunteers across the United States and has launched over 1,300 operations domestically and internationally. To drive equity across disaster and humanitarian services, Team Rubicon focuses on three areas of impact: disaster response, including mitigation, immediate response, and disaster recovery; workforce development and long-term recovery; and medical services, including providing emergent and surge health care, WASH, and disaster risk reduction. The organization is featured in the Roku original series titled Team Rubicon, which highlights the work of Greyshirt volunteers assisting communities across the country. Visit http://www.teamrubiconusa.org for more information.
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