The ARES people think they're really relevant at least here in Europe. I don't join them because they take it all too seriously IMO. They have this thing where a minor flood happens and they all come out in tacticool gear and pretend to be important but keep running in the way of the real aid workers. That was at least my experience when there was a "deployment". Perhaps in other countries it's different.

I don't care about being "important". I'm more into the hobby for the technical side.