Two strong earthquakes shook El Salvador in January and February 2001, leaving widespread damage throughout the country. This prompted a call to action for the country's National IVY Committee. Salvadorean UN Volunteer and volunteer promoter, Felix Arevalo, and Spanish UNV Programme Officer Cristina Herrero spearheaded a campaign to mobilize volunteer action in support of those most affected.

As a result, eight "Solidarity Brigades" (Brigadas de Solidaridad) coordinated by the Mayor of San Salvador, Héctor Silva, joined local institutions in distributing food, clothes and medicines to over 3,500 families. This effort inspired many more people to add their names to the newly established resource bank for institutions in need of volunteers.

In Chiltiupan, a small town some 40 kilometres south-west of San Salvador, 10 national UN Volunteers working under UNV's Rapid Deployment Facility for Disasters brought immediate relief to villages where some 1,100 homes had been destroyed.

In an inspiring act of international solidarity, survivors of the 1995 earthquake in Kobe, Japan, raised funds locally and donated $4,000 to the people of Chiltiupan. Through this donation, community volunteers dug over 770 wells and joined in a special event for children who had been traumatized by this disaster.

In recognition of the work of the volunteers in El Salvador and Japan, Japanese Ambassador Saburo Yusawa made an additional donation on behalf of his government to build a new school supplied with educational materials. And it didn't' stop here. Many private companies volunteered food, sports equipment and medical kits.

Volunteers around the Americas got involved in other ways:

• During Ecuador's devastating mudslide in June, Red Cross and Civil Defense Volunteers rescued victims and provided first aid in the town of Papallacta. Spanish UN Volunteer Nuria Pleguezuelo assisted the overall relief effort by coordinating food distribution in the Amazon region near the area where the mudslide occurred.
• In Canada, the Province of Ontario committed funds to an initiative to strengthen the emergency response capabilities of volunteers. Among the 6.5 million Canadians who volunteer every year, thousands are dedicated to volunteer fire brigades, emergency response teams and community policing. Providing broader support, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien marked the end of IYV by announcing a five-year National Volunteerism Initiative to strengthen the voluntary sector's capacity to assist volunteers.
• In a spontaneous display of humanity, countless volunteers poured onto the streets of New York in the wake of the 11 September terrorist attacks. They lined up to clear rubble and search for survivors, to give blood and console the bereaved. Some volunteers did not tear down debris, but they raised the morale of those digging in at New York's "ground zero". Whether they were New Yorkers handing out coffee or those energetically cheering on the efforts of other volunteers, they all made their mark.