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