Mother Nature is unpredictable. Dark skies can pass over a community without
as much as a rain drop. Other days, those clouds can open a Pandora’s Box of
weather. Throughout the upstate on
Monday, we all saw the latter. A tornado
ripped through a community. Heavy rains
threatened to flood homes. Power was out
for thousands.
Almost immediately, Red Cross Disaster workers from the
Palmetto SC Region jumped into action.
They were ready to go. They were
excited to bring stability to unpredictability.
Together with government partners, volunteers opened (and staffed) a
shelter. Nearly two dozen people spent
the night. They had a dry, safe place to
spend the night.
(A Palmetto SC Region volunteer helps a man impacted by Monday's weather)
Red Cross Disaster Workers sat down with dozens of people in
that shelter and guided them through the recovery process. Volunteers unloaded trailers full of supplies
to distribute – including clean-up kits, packages of water, meals, snacks,
etc. They even helped one woman receive
new eyeglasses. Another woman needed
help getting her prescription medications. She has them now.
51 volunteers distributed 800 meals and snacks. They handed out 100 clean-up kits and bulk items.
They helped more than 60 people impacted by the weather. Those numbers are increasing by the day.
(Two volunteers wave goodbye as they head out to help communities in need on Wednesday)
Red Cross volunteers did all of that. Not only because of
their passion. But because of you.
The fact is 91 cents of every dollar the Red Cross spends is
invested in our humanitarian services and programs. We mean that. Your donations make our work
possible.
The Red Cross is an organization dedicated to alleviating
human suffering. Disaster workers are
there to make the worst days of peoples’ lives a little bit better. Roughly 90% of the Red Cross is
volunteer-based. These are personal
heroes who paused their personal lives to jump in to action.
(A Red Crosser checks one of the trailers parked outside of the Spartanburg shelter)
The work of the Red Cross in the upstate is not finished
yet. If you would like to help with our efforts to help our neighbors, please
go to redcross.org/sc.
Even the smallest donation can bring the biggest smile to
the face of someone who needs help.
