SoCal Supply Sites

Hi, I'm Dan Van Atta, a professional software engineer. I created WNC Supply Sites & SoCal Supply Sites after volunteering in Asheville. What started as a simple shared spreadsheet to track surplus supplies quickly grew into something much bigger: a platform that helps connect supply sites and make sure materials get where they're needed most.

The work done at distribution sites is incredible, but overwhelming. Very overwhelming. While sorting supplies, I was shown just a huge pile of hand sanitizer. Enough for the whole town and then some. In the middle of a row of pallets was a full box of solar powered cell phone chargers. Just sitting there, buried. When I first started volunteering, my dad told me that supply sites were distributing supplies amongst each other. I asked the logistics manager if there was communication between supply sites about surpluses. The answer was, "Not really." That's when I realized something had to change.

How could we make sure surplus supplies reached the right places? How could we use the supplies already available more effectively? And how could we support volunteers working long hours, many of whom were also affected by the storm?

That's why I created WNC Supply Sites. Our goal is simple: to provide an easy-to-use tool that helps track supplies, identify surpluses, and connect supply sites with each other. This way, materials can get to where they're needed, quickly and efficiently.

WNC Supply Sites is designed to help volunteers and organizations in disaster relief work smarter, to extend their reach and efforts. My hope is that this platform makes it easier to manage supplies, so those helping communities recover can focus on the important work of rebuilding and supporting those in need.

In mid November WNC Supply Sites partnered with R4 to do supply redistribution dispatch. A critical partnership allowing for much greater reach and for WNC Supply Sites to tap into a network of volunteer drivers and coordinators. In partnership we combined software systems to create a needs-matching website along with a dispatch tracking system. Not only would WNC Supply Sites be a way of sharing needs and surplus information, but in partnership with R4 it also became an engine for transporting supplies!

WNC Supply Sites has since morphed to be multiple websites to handle more and more disasters. The same platform is now being rolled out for SoCal fire relief.