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Monday, Oct. 13, 2008

Midstate Red Cross volunteers recount Hurricane Ike mission

The four American Red Cross volunteers had different stories to tell about going to Texas after the devastation wrought by Hurricane Ike last month, but they did have one thing in common: They would do it again.

Shelly Walden of Macon, Elizabeth Wood and Alisia Alexander, both of Eatonton, and Anne White of Milledgeville talked about their experiences Sunday at Macon's Central Georgia Chapter headquarters of The American Red Cross.

Walden, who turned 25 while in Texas, is a Wesleyan College graduate who began her Red Cross volunteering this year and worked at a small shelter in Galveston that housed between 68 to 80 people.

She arrived Sept. 16 in Texas, some three days after Hurricane Ike roared through, she said, and put in 14- to 16-hour days during her 24-day stay near the the coast.

Walden worked in what's called "mass care," registering evacuees, helping with meals, making beds at the shelter and the like.

"I was a little bit excited and a little bit scared because it was my first one," Walden said. "At first the people were strangers, but 10 days later as they were boarding buses to go to Houston it was like saying good-bye to family and friends."

"When I first arrived there was a lot of anxiety and fearfulness," Wood said. "People were stressed and concerned with the future."

Wood, a child and family guidance professional, said her work involved helping get medication to patients who had lost theirs, hooking people up with psychological services or other forms of assistance. She worked in the small towns of Dayton and Cleveland, where shelters had been set up at churches, she added.

Alexander, who worked in the Beaumont area, spent most of her time helping deliver meals twice daily.

"We handed out hot meals to between 300 to 500 people twice daily," she said. "We had a loudspeaker on the top of our ERV (emergency response vehicle), and we would let the people know where the food was."

At times residents would help out, she said, including one older woman who came to the truck in her motorized wheelchair.

"We gathered the plastic silverware and let her pass those out," Alexander said. "She was so happy, and it made her feel good to help out."

Residents' mental well-being was a big focus of the volunteers' efforts.

White, who retired earlier this year as a school psychologist with Bibb County Schools, said she worked at shelters in Houston, delivering mental health services and ensuring the disabled were fed their meals.

An important part of her day was securing medication for those who had left them at home before evacuating.

"The Texas Rangers got them their medications," White said. "It was crucial to keep them on that."

While in Texas, Alexander said, volunteers "lost track of time" because they didn't have access to newspapers or television on a daily basis.

But they all said they would do it again.

"It's hard work but rewarding," Wood said, "to be there for someone in need."

"It makes you feel more appreciative of what you have, because it can all be gone in an instant," White said.

"I was impressed that there were people there who had lost everything and could still get up in the morning with a smile sometimes," Walden said.

The volunteers said the evacuees were more than ready to get back to their routines, even the children.

"When the power was restored, the kids were all excited," said Alexander. "They wanted to be back in the routine, check out what their friends did."

To contact writer Jake Jacobs, call 923-6199, extension 305.