A pre-planned visit to see family and friends in Puerto Rico in 2017 put me on the island in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Maria. There was so much work to be done and so many people to help. I needed to find an organization that would allow me to contribute to the recovery of a … Continue reading Why I Volunteer: Juan Silva
Why I Volunteer: Jennifer Beaty
I first started volunteering for the Red Cross when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. There was a shortage of Red Cross volunteers, I was a nurse, and I wanted to help. I keep volunteering because of the people I meet and because of the opportunity it provides to use my skills as a nurse practitioner. … Continue reading Why I Volunteer: Jennifer Beaty
Why I Volunteer: Chukwuma Nwabuokei
I volunteer with the Red Cross as part of a journey I started as a young boy living in Nigeria. The Red Cross has always stood out for me because of how far they go to assist people in need, from a small apartment fire to a war zone. I have been volunteering since June … Continue reading Why I Volunteer: Chukwuma Nwabuokei
Why I Volunteer: Summer Warfield
While watching the news during Hurricane Katrina I knew I needed to get involved in some way to help. Once my kids were a bit older I researched organizations that help during disasters and the Red Cross kept coming up. The more I read, the more I wanted to join. In my initial interview, I … Continue reading Why I Volunteer: Summer Warfield
A LONG AND FAR-REACHING DEPLOYMENT
By Gordon Williams For most Red Cross volunteers, deployment is an interlude in their life--a few weeks in a disaster zone, helping victims of storm or flood or wildfire. For volunteer Haya Khateeb of Wenatchee, WA, deployment in the wake of Hurricane Irma was an odyssey--lasting nearly six weeks and taking her from Wenatchee to … Continue reading A LONG AND FAR-REACHING DEPLOYMENT
Volunteer Returns to his Roots to Survey Harvey’s Damage
By Dale Steinke Technology, including a new phone app, helped Walla Walla retiree William “Bill” Herrington and his fellow American Red Cross volunteers complete numerous home damage assessments and find their way around the Texas Gulf Coast to support Hurricane Harvey relief. Herrington, an upper Texas Gulf Coast native, became a volunteer last December with … Continue reading Volunteer Returns to his Roots to Survey Harvey’s Damage
Helping to Heal the Emotional Scars of Hurricane Harvey
By Gordon Williams The task of most Red Cross volunteers in a disaster zone is to provide victims with food, water and shelter. The task of volunteer Ginger Van Ry in a disaster zone is to provide skilled emotional support to victims whose response to disaster can range from stoic acceptance to deep, crippling depression. … Continue reading Helping to Heal the Emotional Scars of Hurricane Harvey
Feeding Storm Victims in a Small Texas Town
By Gordon Williams Pictures by Norman Bottenberg Some Red Cross volunteers, now aiding hurricane victims in Texas or Florida, can date their first deployment to Superstorm Sandy in 2012. For others the first deployment was to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. For Norm Bottenberg, of Sammamish WA, the first deployment was the eruption of Mount St. … Continue reading Feeding Storm Victims in a Small Texas Town
A 3,000-Mile Journey to Help the Victims of Irma
By Gordon Williams It was 9:30 on a Monday night--barely 48 hours after Hurricane Irma ravaged Florida--when the phone rang in the Everson, WA home of Dale and Audrey Snapper. Everson is only a few miles from Bellingham--headquarters of the Northwest Washington chapter of the American Red Cross. Would the Snappers be willing to drive … Continue reading A 3,000-Mile Journey to Help the Victims of Irma
A Long Trek from the Northwest to Help Hurricane Victims
By Gordon Williams Published on September 11, 2017 Key West, Florida is 2,722 miles from Seattle--about as far apart as two cities in the continental United States can be. Yet that distance proved to be no obstacle when volunteers from the Northwest Region joined the army of Red Cross workers heading south to help the … Continue reading A Long Trek from the Northwest to Help Hurricane Victims
American Red Cross NW Region 