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MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend September 19, 2004 Valley volunteers head to hurricane zones By JOHN DARLING for the Mail Tribune Floy Williams, one of 36 Rogue Valley residents sent to help hurricane victims in the Southeast, reports "I’m pulling my hair out and my mind is frazzled, but I just found a church for 100 people to stay in tonight." Williams, 56, an artist from Rogue River, is working as a volunteer for the Red Cross for three weeks, finding shelter for a flood of volunteer disaster workers in Orlando, Fla., near the wide swaths from Florida to North Carolina that took the brunt of hurricanes Charley, Frances and Ivan. More than 16,000 Red Cross volunteers are now on duty in the Southeast. The 12-hour-a-day task is not easy, as hurricane victims have first dibs on hotel and motel rooms, said Williams, who gained much of her experience as a Rogue River volunteer firefighter for six years and on Red Cross missions in floods in San Antonio and Louisiana and tornado relief in Missouri. "When it’s over, I come home and sleep for three days," she said. These volunteers are part of the largest deployment of Red Cross volunteers in Red Cross history, said Marj Jameson, executive director of the Rogue Valley chapter of the American Red Cross. Advertisement Flying out to storm-battered Montgomery, Ala., Friday evening, Linda Nahale, 50, of Grants Pass said she took the volunteer job because "it makes me feel good to help other people." Nine other trained volunteers from this area flew to the same spot in the last couple days. A veteran of forest fires in Sisters, paralyzing snow in Ohio and the 9/11 attack in New York, Nahale is putting an extensive business management background to work coordinating logistics for volunteers. Betty Ward, Red Cross emergency services coordinator for the Rogue Valley, said Williams and three others flew to Tampa as mass care technicians and eight others on standby for when the next storm hits. "It’s a horrific job they have to do in Florida — and it looks like this one in Montgomery is really bad too — the worst in years," said Ward, who’s been on 30 disasters herself. "These volunteers are people with big hearts. Like a lot of us, they go through life saying they wish they could help, and with the training we provide, they’ve found a way to do it." The dozens of others of volunteers from here are working to provide disaster counseling, helping in evacuation shelters or driving mobile kitchens to hard-hit areas. Many people in law enforcement serve as "security and safety" volunteers. "Our job is to feed, clothe and shelter them and also provide mental health and nursing care," Ward said. "When they go back to their homes, we provide hot meals and a hug on a scheduled route. We’re there for them. When they get home, they’re not going to leave the place, and if we don’t feed and care for them, they’ll end up ill." Volunteers often are retired, using vacation time or get let off from jobs by understanding bosses, she added. Red Cross provides free training, flights to the disaster site and free housing while on the job. Volunteers usually go for three weeks and may extend their stay. Seven Rogue Valley volunteers are just returning, including Mary Jane Morrison of Phoenix, who worked in counseling; Cheryl Lowe of Grants Pass, who drove a mobile kitchen; and Laurie Smith of Grants Pass, who works as an officer in a disaster operations center. "What these people do is fabulous," said Ward, noting that the public doesn’t fully understand that the Red Cross is not a government agency, but depends of donations and volunteer help for the immense relief work it does. Jameson said, "With this being the largest volunteer deployment we’ve ever done, we’re going to need millions more in contributions to keep providing these desperately needed services." The Red Cross here offers 12-hour training classes several times a year in "Introduction to Disaster" and "Mass Care," both of which qualify volunteers to serve on disaster scenes. The Red Cross has opened 620 shelters in the Southeast, housing 280,000 people and serving more than 5 million meals since Hurricane Charley hit in mid-August. People here unable to contact relatives in stricken areas may call the Red Cross at 779-3773 or the national Red Cross inquiry hot line at (866)GET-INFO. Donations may be made by calling (800)HELP NOW. How to help victims of storms in the Southeast Emergency management officials recommend that those wishing to assist hurricane victims give cash donations and resist going to affected areas. Rogue Valley residents unable to contact relatives in stricken areas may call the local Red Cross at 779-3773 or the national Red Cross inquiry hot line at 1-866-GET-INFO. American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund , Call 1-800-HELP NOW or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish), or online at www.redcross.org Salvation Army , Call 1-800-SAL-ARMY, or online at www.salvationarmyusa.org For a complete list of charitable agencies recommended by FEMA, visit www.fema.gov/rrr/help2.shtm The Associated Press John Darling is a free-lance writer living in Ashland.E-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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