After Months of Non-Stop Disaster Response, American Red Cross Seeks New Volunteers to Help Storm Victims

Rash of Weather Events Deplete Local Resources

Mother Nature was harsh this past spring. She left more than 2,000 Texas families without homes, caused the Red Cross to open 60 shelters, hand out more than 340,000 meals and snacks along with 171,000 clean-up items like shovels, tarps, rakes, mops, buckets and work gloves. Her relentless nature was responded to by a force of nature made up of 2,200 trained Red Cross relief workers from around the country, with nearly half being Texans. 

Now, the Red Cross is offering virtual training courses in an attempt to recruit new volunteers to deliver their mission critical services. 

“Because the sun is shining doesn’t mean this disaster has passed,” said T.D. Smyers, chief executive officer, American Red Cross North Texas Region. “It’s quite the opposite actually. Our teams will be managing the statewide Red Cross call center, conducting disaster assessments and providing casework services most likely up through August, which is why we’re appealing for new volunteers to come join us.”

Virtual training courses are being offered this weekend in the following areas:

June 27	Orientation to Texas Disaster	9:00am-10:00am
	Caseworker: Just in Time	10:00am-12:30pm
	Disaster Assessment: Just in Time	2:30pm-3:30pm
	Sheltering: Just in Time	3:30pm-4:30pm
June 29	Orientation to Texas Disaster	9:00am-10:00am 6:30pm-7:30pm
	Sheltering: Just in Time	10:00am-11:00am 7:30pm-8:30pm
	Disaster Assessment: Just in Time	11:00am-Noon 8:30pm-9:30pm
	Casework: Just in Time	1:00pm-3:30pm 6:30pm-9:00pm

To register as a new Red Cross volunteer, go to http://www.redcross.org/tx/dallas-fort-worth/volunteer and click on ARC Flood Relief. From there, you'll receive instructions on how to register for the virtual training. All Red Cross disaster training courses are FREE, compliments of Red Cross donors who make the mission possible. 

“My team here in North Texas has literally been working around the clock since mid-April and they’ve done an honorable job for Texans,” said Smyers. “We need some more just like them to carry us through the second half of this disaster.”

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Local Red Cross Volunteer Featured in Weatherford NOW Magazine

This story is reposted from the August 2014 issue of Weatherford NOW Magazine. To read the complete article, visit the online issue and turn to page 24. Thank you to Weatherford NOW for sharing this great story about one of our amazing volunteers!

A Helping Hand
by Amber D. Browne

Growing up along the Gulf Coast in Corpus Christi, Larry Bushwar became familiar with the threat of tropical storms and hurricanes. His parents rode out a few of the storms when he was a child, and he saw first-hand the destruction caused by Mother Nature. "Disasters do not
discriminate between races, gender or economic status. I saw how people from all walks of life stood together to help their fellow neighbors in tough times," Larry explained. "Even though I was a child, those things stick in your mind forever."

As an adult living in Wichita Falls, Larry experienced another brush with a natural disaster. He had recently graduated from The University of Texas at Austin and was working for the Internal Revenue Service. A massive tornado touched down near his apartment complex during the spring of 1979. 

"That was my first time to see a tornado up close. I actually saw the tornado. It was huge,” Larry explained. 

As an IRS representative, Larry worked with residents who had been affected by the destruction of the tornado. “I guess this is where I really realized how helpful I could be in a disaster,” he said. “I saw how all these people and organizations all came together for the common good of our fellow neighbors.”

That instinct and determination to help others led Larry to the American Red Cross. He volunteers with the Red Cross as a government operations liaison and a disaster assessment coordinator. His primary focus is working with state and city officials during a disaster.

To read the complete article, visit the online issue and turn to page 24.

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