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By Miriam Raftery April 20, 2009 (Carlsbad and El Cajon)– In an effort to provide more efficient and effective delivery of programs and services to help people worldwide, World Emergency Relief (WER) and Rescue Task Force (RTF), an El-Cajon based nonprofit organization, announce their merger following approval by the organizations' two boards of directors. The combined organizations will now move forward toward integration of the two nonprofit organizations into one corporate entity. The new organization will be based at the WER offices in Carlsbad, California from where RTF and WER will continue operating their projects under their respective RTF and WER banners. However RTF will keep its El Cajon office open for volunteer activities to continue there. “A large percentage of our donors and supporters are in East County,” said Gary Becks, RTF founder.
Established in 1988, RFT went dormant in 1991 but was re-launched in 1999 by Becks and Wendell Cutting. “With his involvement, the RFT has become a premier charity,” Becks said of Cutting, who died last year following a long battle with cancer. Rescue Task Force (RTF) is a San Diego County based non-profit relief agency that responds to natural and man-made disasters world-wide. In addition to local military and military family support through their “Happy Hearts for Hurting Heroes” Back Pack program, RTF delivers volunteer medical and dental teams into the jungles villages of Honduras and has constructed three full service medical and dental clinic facilities deep in the jungles of Honduras' Miskito Coast. RTF also operates fifteen literacy centers/schools for women in Afghanistan. (See photo)
For more information, visit www.rescuetaskforce.org World Emergency Relief (WER) is a non-profit organization established in 1985. In addition to WER's headquarters based in Carlsbad, California, WER also has international offices. World Emergency Relief's (WER) vision is to give children all over the world a living chance by addressing their practical, emotional, spiritual and economic needs, as well as the needs of their families and communities. For more information, visit www.wer-us.org. WER’s Board of Directors has appointed Becks as Chief Executive Officer of the newly merged organization.
Becks served as Rescue Task Force CEO and also has held a seat on World Emergency Relief‘s Board of Directors for over 20 years. “I have always been a part of the WER family,” said Gary Becks . “WER provided much of the original seed money for Rescue Task Force over 20 years ago and we have worked together at just about every disaster during the past two decades. This merger just makes the relationship official.”
Wendell Cutting’s twin brother, Larry, has served on the RTF board of directors for many years and has been brought on board the combined operation as administrative officer in the Carlsbad office. Michael Batarsah, Board Chairman of World Emergency Relief, and John Linehan, Board Chairman of Rescue Task Force, point out that the longstanding informal relationship between the two organizations and the mutual objectives shared by both organizations led to a decision to combine resources and personnel into a single entity, including shared onsite warehousing, international networks for service delivery, and the combined talents of the respective staffs and volunteers. “In these challenging economic circumstances, it makes the most sense for our groups to work together and capture combined costs,” said Linehan.
Both organizations' domestic and international services and programs--including helping children, supporting U.S. military personnel and helping communities worldwide affected by natural disasters--are expected to be greatly enhanced and now conducted at even lower overhead costs as a result of the merger.
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