Re: A second report from the side

--- Fred Juergens <fredjuergens@charter.net> wrote:

> I'm two weeks into my first-ever volunteer service
> with the American Red Cross, and my understanding
> of its mission, accomplishments and needs is growing
> daily.
>
> First, I've learned that, even before Hurricane
> Wilma struck south Florida, RC's efforts in the
> aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have
> required over fifteen (15!) times the number of
> volunteers and resources that have ever been needed
> in a single year in the history of Red Cross. Think
> of the incredible outpouring of donated time and
> money from the American people to assist fellow
> Americans in need.
>
> Since Hurricane Katrina made landfall, Red Cross
> has donated direct financial assistance in a variety
> of ways, including debit cards, vouchers, checks and
> cash, to about 1.2 million families, totalling more
> than 3.7 million men, women and children. Red Cross
> has provided hurricane survivors with nearly 3.4
> million overnight stays in nearly 1,100 shelters
> across 27 states and the District of Columbia.
> More than 211,400 Red Cross disaster relief workers
> from all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin
> Islands have responded. Red Cross, in coordination
> with the Southern Baptist Convention, has served
> more than 26.3 million hot meals and 23.2 million
> snacks to hurricane survivors to date. And through
> the Emergency Response Call Center, where I
> volunteer, we've answered almost 900,000 calls from
> hurricane victims to direct them to other resources
> for assistance, help that is outside the scope of
> the RC's mission of immediate emergency relief.
>
> Second, I've also learned that Red Cross' efforts,
> massive as they are, do not always measure up to our
> mission. Red Cross estimates that half a million
> callers hung up because our hotlines were so busy.
> Hopefully they called back and finally got through.
> Yesterday a distraught lady from rural east Texas
> called me on the hotline. She was a day-laborer who
> hadn't worked in several weeks, because no work was
> to be had. She needed money for the co-pay required
> by her state's program to assist low income people
> in paying for their prescriptions. She needed money
> to buy more propane to heat the mobile home in which
> she lived. She finally received RC's debit card in
> the mail, more than a month after she had applied at
> a temporary service center RC had set up in the
> little town near her home. She was so grateful it
> came, she said. She barely had money to buy gasoline
> to drive to the nearest ATM. And then...it didn't
> work. The temporary service center had closed weeks
> before!
> , she didn't know how to reach RC in a larger Texas
> city, and so she called the hotline. She was
> crying, and I felt so inadequate to help her. I
> informed the Red Cross in Texas of her plight, so
> they could imediately look into why her card
> wouldn't work; however, on the phone, all I could do
> was listen sympathetically to her story and suggest
> that she contact a local church or other charitable
> agency to request more immediate help. It's
> experiences like these that really take a toll on me
> and the many other hotline volunteers. We're trying
> to do so much, and sometimes we fall short. It's
> very frustrating and humbling.
>
> Third, I've come to realize how much most Americans
> take for granted as we proceed through our daily
> lives, how fragile is the hold on a decent life for
> many of our neighbors and countrymen, and how
> inadequately most of us are prepared to take care of
> ourselves in a disaster, let alone "promote the
> general welfare", as it says in the Preamble to the
> United States Constitution. The Red Cross has a
> brochure available that details what every family
> should do to prepare, well in advance, for a
> potential emergency; what supplies every household
> should store up, just in case; a communications plan
> to let others know where they are and if they're
> safe. I'd be surprised if more than 1/4 of
> Evansville's households have made such emergency
> preparations; I know I haven't. It will be high on
> my list of priorities when I return home. Don't say
> it won't happen to you; remember the tornado that
> hit Stoughton a few months ago. The Janesville RC
> office can either send you such a brochure !
> or tell you where to get one.
>
> Four other Wisconsin Red Cross volunteers here at
> the Call Center, Beryl from Union, Jane from
> Madison, Paul from West Bend, and Arley from Lac
> Courte O'reilles, and I made an excursion to our
> nation's capital yesterday. We had a purpose; it
> was not just for fun. First, we visited Senator
> Herb Kohl. Senator Kohl meets his constituents for
> a regularly scheduled breakfast in his office each
> Wednesday whenever Congress is in session. With
> some 15 other Wisconsinites not there on Red Cross
> business, we talked with Kohl and his staff about
> concerns we had. Naturally, we five described our
> work as Red Cross volunteers and asked him to
> evaluate and improve the government's programs to
> assist disaster victims. We wanted to impress on
> him the continuing needs of people in the Gulf Coast
> area, to tell him of our first-hand experiences to
> bring the message home. It was a very cordial
> visit. From there, we made a spontaneous stop at
> Senator Russ Feingold's office to take our mes!
> sage there. He was not in, but one of his aides
> generously sat down with us for an extended
> discussion; I feel confident that Feingold will
> learn of what we've been doing and the need to aid
> people in the south. After that, we visited
> Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin's office. She was
> attending Rosa Parks' services; we again pressed our
> message to her aides. One of her interns, Carley, a
> college student in Washington for a semester through
> a Marquette University program, generously gave us a
> behind-the scenes tour of the Capitol Building, and
> we had lunch in the basement cafeteria used by the
> staff of the House of Representatives. Then we
> returned to the Call Center to work our 3pm-11:30pm
> shift on the telephones.
>
> This morning a good friend of mine, Carolyn from
> Madison who's a long-time Red Cross volunteer,
> called me from Key West, Florida, where she is
> working after Hurricane Wilma. She and her Disaster
> Action Team are walking the streets of the city,
> looking for people who may need assistance. She
> says trees and power lines are down all over, cars
> damaged by the salt-water storm surge are abandoned
> in the streets, it's hot and humid, and conditions
> are made worse by continuing rains in the last few
> days. She says they just have to pick their way
> through the rubble everywhere. Fortunately the power
> is back on in parts of the city. I told her that,
> two nights ago, I had talked with a disabled man in
> a wheel chair in that city; he was running out of
> food and had no one else to turn to for help. His
> cell phone cut out before I could get more details.
> He was just lost to me. I wonder what happened to
> that man, if Carolyn will find him, if he's found
> the help he needs, somehow, !
> somewhere.
>
> I'll never again be the same person I was before I
> took on this task with the Red Cross. I feel so
> fortunate that I have had the opportunity to help
> other people -- people I've never seen and whose
> future lives I won't ever know about. My sense of
> responsibility for other human beings has vastly
> increased. On the other hand, I've learned how hard
> it is to do this work; I'm really tired. I know I'm
> doing important work and I will persevere to the end
> of my three-week stint here at the Call Center. I
> will volunteer again in the future. I have immense
> respect for the Red Cross volunteers actually
> working in disaster areas. Their task is much
> harder than mine. One older lady working at the call
> center told me this is her 27th national disaster
> volunteer position, that she regrets she's too old
> to actually work in the field any longer. I hope
> that all who read this can find a way to contribute
> to the Red Cross mission to aid the victims of all
> the disasters, big and small!
> , that strike Americans year after year.
>
> Best wishes,
> Fred Juergens
>