The outpouring of support to the Hill Country after the July 4 weekend floods has brought both relief and burden to locals. A new Volunteer Reception Center in Northwest Travis County has established a meeting point to cut through the noise and make sure volunteers have an accessible, but official channel to move through.

The reception center is located on the north side of the Plain Elementary School building at 501 S. Brook Dr. in Leander. It's open daily from 8 am to 6 pm, and volunteers are encouraged to swing by whenever they can. They should come ready to work, but they shouldn't bring donations, since there is no active collection onsite.

On the positive side, community involvement in the first week after the floods totaled at least $30 million to the main Kerr County fundraiser; on the other hand, a surplus of donations and volunteers to organize slowed down some operations, including churches.

Some nonprofits emphasized that volunteers who hadn't checked in with the main team were liabilities, and were causing traffic and other problems. A common fear was that inexperienced or unaccounted for volunteers could go missing and need help. Meanwhile, some organizations with lower-risk needs, like Austin Pets Alive!, were making a less common, opposite request: fill out a form and don't wait for a response to show up.

The new reception center brings a number of causes together under one roof, so volunteers don't need to spend time sorting through qucikly outdated asks or accidentally get in the way. Onsite organizers will assign projects to any volunteers who show up meeting the following criteria:

• Age 18 and up
• Wear close-toed shoes, pants, gloves, and bug spray

Those who want to donate to victims in Travis County — Sandy Creek, Cow Creek, and Northwestern Travis County, specifically — can use this newly created fund organized by the county and the Central Texas Community Foundation.