Giving help + comfort: Volunteers are put to work on all types of jobs

When Hurricane Katrina's aftermath affected Southeast Missouri, the local office of the American Red Cross was glad to have the services of Deborah McBride.

In early September, 175 people from New Orleans arrived in Kennett, Mo., on three buses, ready to set up temporary homes at a camp there.

All were black, like McBride, who works at the Community Counseling Center in Cape Girardeau

"We really relied on Deborah to make sure we were culturally sensitive and to make them feel welcome," said Kristi Thurman, director of emergency services with the local Red Cross.

Like many others in the wake of Katrina, McBride volunteered her time with the relief effort. Her employer offered her services to the Red Cross.

McBride's counseling experience has come in handy. In the weeks since the displaced arrived in Southeast Missouri she has worked to help acclimate new arrivals to Southeast Missouri and to help them cope with the trauma of their experiences.

"The stories they told are horrifying," said McBride.

The people who came to Kennett had been living at the Superdome since the hurricane hit. They had seen rapes and had slept next to the dead.

"We want to make sure they feel safe here, and it feels like their home," Thurman said.

Volunteers like McBride allow the Red Cross to do that. Following the disaster, volunteers have lent hands to help at unprecedented levels locally. Thurman has a huge stack of volunteer applications, many the result of 300-400 calls in the days following the hurricane.

Those volunteers have helped the Red Cross, churches and other organizations perform a variety of tasks.

"I immediately wanted to help," McBride said. "It's not because of the color of their skin. These are individuals, they're United States citizens, and they need help."

Both McBride and Thurman are also involved in church relief efforts, helping families relocate and form new community connections.

The hurricane victims need many different kinds of help. Of course, there's the basic initial needs for food, water, clothing, shelter, hygiene products and medical care.

Those items don't simply fall into the victims' laps. People are needed to organize and package those goods for delivery. It's just another area in which volunteers have stepped forward and are still needed.

Major Michael Thomas of the Salvation Army in Cape Girardeau said supplies are still coming in to his organization, and people are still needed to sort those items for the displaced families who come in.

So far the response has been overwhelming, he said.

"This community, and the whole area, it's just such a generous area."

At the Salvation Army, hundreds have already volunteered, many with the blessing of their employers. Last Wednesday, Thomas said a whole crew of 21 people from the Missouri Department of Transportation came from Sikeston to help.

"It was a very busy day, and they were like the cavalry coming to the rescue," Thomas said.

Volunteers have played a variety of roles following the disaster. From counseling the displaced like McBride to working in shelters in Houston like Tina Bles to organizing supplies like Catherine Foster to answering phones like Joy Knutson-Ritter, all have been vital.

The Cape Girardeau Red Cross office has a room filled with everything from coloring books to deodorant to towels. Foster helped arrange those items as a Red Cross volunteer. Foster is a former Cape Girardeau resident who now lives near Chicago. But when she heard about the disaster, she came to Cape Girardeau to help.

She has worked at the shelters, organized goods and done the seemingly insignificant tasks of driving people and running errands. All that help was needed in Katrina's wake.

"Catherine is a very big team player," said Thurman.

In her desire to help, Foster has put off her own search for friends who live in Mississippi. Now she's about to end her volunteer time in Cape Girardeau and try to track them down.

Like Foster, Joy Knutson-Ritter has stepped forward to help behind the scenes.

When she saw news of Katrina, the former SBC employee called the Red Cross to see how she could help. Her experience made her a great asset for the important tasks of answering phones and data input.

"It's as easy as picking up the phone and saying 'What can I do?'" said Knutson-Ritter.

Even though the rebuilding has started, volunteers are still needed, not only for Katrina's aftermath but for the future.

In the event of another disaster, organizations like the Red Cross and Salvation Army like to have people who are already trained and ready at a moment's notice.

They may go to a disaster area, they may handle paperwork, they may answer phones. But each one will be important.

For more information on how to volunteer, call the Red Cross at 335-9471 or the Salvation Army at 335-7000.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182