Central Virginia Red Cross to Send Staff to Georgia Following Hurricane Irma

Irma was the second devastating storm to ravage the southern part of the country in a two week period after Harvey caused historic flooding in southeastern Texas.

But companies like Xcel Energy still have enough Minnesotan helpers for round two of hurricane relief. “I know at some point we were keeping people at the client shelter because we couldn’t get them to a from their shelter; roads were flooded and the water was too high.” .

They already sent 60 trained volunteers down south.

At present, the mission is simply to provide emergency shelter and food. We are constantly reviewing our policies and procedures, learning to adapt-because each disaster is different-and learning from experiences.

Last summer, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, released a study stating that after the horrific Haitian quake of 2010, the Red Cross spent one-fourth of donations ($124 million) on internal expenses and that it could not account for how many people it helped.

Speral cautions volunteers against self-deploying without first going through a well-established organization.

She urges self-starters and grassroots initiatives to check in with groups like the Red Cross. Volunteers are given the option to deploy or help here locally in times of need.

According to White, in recent years, Red Cross had trimmed its staff members to the bare bones and the organization is run nearly entirely by volunteer labor, she said. Customers can add $1 to their in-store purchase at participating 7-Eleven stores nationwide or donate online at https://www.7-eleven.com/hurricane-relief. “I just didn’t want the hamburgers to be set somewhere and have them get cold and wasted because a lot of effort had gone into getting them there”. I’ve experienced more than one hurricane and tropical storm. Another way to help without donating money is to volunteer your time during the relief efforts.