Milford Woman Helps in Isaac Aftermath

Editor's Note: the following press release was sent by the American Red Cross.

Amy Durand is a longtime member of the American Red Cross of Eastern Massachusetts. When the call went out this week for volunteers who could help in the flooded areas of the Gulf region, she jumped at the opportunity.

She is one of the more than 3,000 volunteers the American Red Cross is deploying to the region agreeing to give up two weeks of her life to help others. She will be assisting those affected by Hurricane Isaac in Hattiesburg Mississippi, where she’ll be helping with “casework,” a specialty where she evaluates needs of those affected by the storm, provides services, and maintains client records.

Durand’s usual volunteer assignment is “disaster dispatch,” where she volunteers from the quiet of her own Milford home, getting calls in the middle of the night from fire scenes and helping to collect teams of volunteers to deploy to the scene.

As Isaac’s floodwaters recede and people begin to return to their neighborhoods, the American Red Cross is moving into community after community along the Gulf Coast, ramping up mobile feeding efforts and handing out relief supplies, while continuing to shelter those who still need a safe place to stay.

Mobile kitchens capable of making thousands of meals a day are setting up in the affected areas. Volunteers from the Southern Baptist Convention will be preparing meals to be distributed throughout communities by Red Cross emergency response vehicles in place all along the Gulf Coast. The Red Cross has already served more than 42,000 meals and snacks.

Red Cross disaster workers are handing out meals, snacks and water, they will also be distributing things like cleaning and personal hygiene items, coolers, shovels, rakes, tarps, gloves and masks as soon as it is safe to do so.

With the American Red Cross spread thin after this summer’s wildfires, help is needed.

“We’re estimating that this massive relief operation for Isaac could cost as much as tens of millions of dollars, and our costs are growing by the hour,” said Charley Shimanski, senior vice president for Red Cross Disaster Services. “We haven’t raised anywhere near the millions of dollars we will need to pay for our efforts. The public has always come through when Americans needed help and we are counting on them now.”

In a time when there is great need, many members of the public want to know ways they can help out. The American Red Cross is funded by the generosity of the American people. To volunteer, donate money or blood, contact 1-800-REDCROSS or visit RedCross.Org to find the Northeast Chapter.