I was activated during Sandy in Suffolk County. My first job was to get food out to as many people as I could. I helped load the hot food onto the ERVs and off we went. Not one ERV was left empty. Not one was left idle. As soon as they were loaded, off they went throughout the communities. We drove for hours throughout destroyed neighborhoods giving out food and drinks to people who were so grateful and ever so proud. We took information from victims that needed assistance and got them help. Ill never forget as we drove down one of the blocks that had been blocked prior, I heard someone yelling for help. We stopped the ERV and I went to the house where the screams were coming from. There I found a handicapped woman who was with her elderly mother. They couldnt leave their home and couldnt get help. They hadnt eaten in a couple of days. They heard our announcements coming from the ERV and began to scream. We were driving slowly throughout the neighborhoods just for that reason. We gave out hot food, drinks, blankets, flashlights and other supplies that could keep them going until other assistance arrived. Red Cross also made sure an ERV would stop there a few times a day supplying them with food and beverages until help got there. The authorities were notified. No one knew they were there until we found them. After this, I went on to Bulk Distribution at the Town of Babylon. This was a large scale operation with tractor trailers filled with supplies. We supplied hot food, drinks, water, blankets, hygiene aids, clean up kits, etc. to walkers, drive ups and drove throughout the neighborhoods to people who couldnt get to us. As each car rolled into the area, I greeted the occupants with a smile, spoke calmly and gave brief instructions to the drivers so they knew what to expect as they navigated between the rows of products available to them. I inquired of each car how many in the family and then relayed that information to my team. Volunteers approached each vehicle from each side carrying cases of water, heater meals ready to eat, a large bag of personal comfort items for each family and clean up kits. When requested, we handed out diapers and baby wipes, and an assortment of canned and boxed groceries that had been generously donated by community residents. In barely more than a minute each car was loaded and moved further down the line where another set of volunteers were ready to place a box of hot meals, bread, snacks, and fruit from one of our Red Cross ERVs into the vehicle. There was a hot meal for each person in the family, including those who didn’t make the trip to the distribution site. “The gratitude of these people for what we did was overwhelming,” I was humbled with pride for my role in the distribution effort. I am fully aware of what disaster victims experience because, as a young teenager, my family lost everything in a house fire, no insurance and literally had to start life over from scratch. “Encountering someone in despair, and then being able to put a smile on their face before they drive away is the most rewarding aspect of working with the Red Cross.” The American Red Cross dispensed more than physical products at Lindenhurst that day. Approaching each car, I took a quick note of the driver’s expression at the first encounter. When I saw eyes full of dejection, hopelessness or despair, a brief touch of my hand on their shoulder was all that was needed to say, “I understand, and I care.” On several such occasions the driver, or a passenger in the car, would break into tears and invite a warm embrace from from me. In such situations, a local Red Cross mental health worker, watching from the sidelines, would step forward and gently invite the car to move to the side of the road where a short, but warm and empathic, conversation could ensue. Being a Volunteer enables the American Red Cross to distribute physical goods in the context of dispensing unlimited quantities of hope and courage. I believe in the American Red Cross and I cant thank them enough for helping our people.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 20:46:21 +0000
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