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About The Southwest Portland Post. (Portland, Oregon) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2008)
8 • The Southwest Portland Post November 2008 FeATUReS Writer heeds call for volunteers to help victims of Hurricane Ike By Kate Bennett Special to The Southwest Portland Post On September 13th, 2008, Hurricane Ike made its United States landfall in Galveston, Texas. The images that emerged from Galveston and Houston were sobering, apocalyptic and mor- bidly fascinating. It was clear from the photos that a multitude of volunteers would be needed to help in a long re- covery process. As my background is in social work, I felt an immediate desire to help in any way that I could. I contacted my local Red Cross chapter and learned that there was an urgent need for volunteers. On September 15, I attended a day-long Mass Care training. On September 18, I was deployed to Dallas, Texas. In the Dallas airport I met and joined three other Red Cross volunteers who had just fl own in from California, West Virginia, and Oregon. We called the Disaster Response Line to get further instructions on where to go from there. The line instructed us to obtain a reserved rental car and to drive to the Red Cross’s temporary headquarters in Ft. Worth. After a 45-minute drive, we pulled up to a large, abandoned Walmart. Inside the building were hundreds of people scurrying about, posting signs, regis- tering people and handing out sweet and salty snacks to those who wanted them. The scene refl ected confi dence and inspired action. As we had arrived too late in the day to be given an assignment, we headed towards one of the two staff shelters for the night. I was actually quite impressed with my fi rst shelter experience; all of the beds were lined up in an orderly fashion in the spacious gymnasium, there were computers and phones to use, and the bathrooms were fairly clean. The following morning I went back to the Ft. Worth headquarters and joined a team of six who had also been assigned to Mass Care-Sheltering. None of us knew our deployment location, but we did know that we would be working in a client shelter in some capacity. While we waited for our assignment, we washed the towels from the one staff shelter, we met and spoke with other volunteers, and we read our books or magazines. Around 2:00pm we fi nally received our assignment: we were go- ing to Houston. I was pleased that we had been given some orders, but the Ft. Worth Red Cross had been unable to tell us what Red Cross volunteers (including the writer, center) prepare to register evacuees from the Gulf Coast at a shelter in Dallas, Texas. (Photo courtesy of Kate Bennett) we were going to do once we arrived in Houston. The Red Cross’ phrase of “hurry up and wait” is all too true. Nevertheless, we left for Houston and arrived at a school staff shelter around 10:00pm. It took another day and a half and a willingness to break from the team before I got my specifi c assignment. On Sunday I fi nally learned that I was joining the Registration Team for the (Continued on Page 9) POST A TO Z BUSINeSS CARD DIReCTORY 503-244-6933 Cosas Bonitas Oregon 'Beautiful Things' from Latin America Fair Trade Indigenous Fine Folkart & Crafts A Very Big Selection, All at Reasonable Prices • Very Fine Mexican Huichol Indian Beaded Art, Yarn Art & Jewelry • Oaxacan Tin Mirrors, Pottery, Carvings, Day of the Dead Art Plus Much More! By appointment in Hillsdale • 971-212-3505 Open House December 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21 From 12PM–5PM Call for directions or look for 'Mexican Fair Trade' street Signs in the area. www.cosasbonitasoregon.com from all of us at The Post!
