Days events!
Montgomery, AL - Saturday October 1st:
I have breakfast with my Buddy - Denny, then take him to the airport - he leaves today.
I do some odds and ends, add to this blog and will "process out" this afternoon. I believe the "process out" takes a little time, it includes a session with a Red Cross mental health advisor. Red Cross volunteers are put into many difficult, traumatic and tragic situations, especially when they involve people as they usually do. Many volunteers become deeply effected by these encounters and the Red Cross takes very seriously its responsibility to protect the safety, health and mental health of its volunteers.
Montgomery, AL - Friday September 30th:
I will not be flying back till Sunday October 2nd, so HQ askes me to deliver four new replacement drivers to Jackson - there and back in a day - 500+miles round trip.
Jackson, MS - Thursday September 29th:
All change - I am coming to the end of my deployment - I am supposed to ship out on Saturday September 30th, so Red Cross HQ in Montgomery has me lead two other ERVs back to the Montgomery home base. ERVs are being consolidated there for onward deployment to Beaumont, Texas
Jackson, MS - Wednesday September 28th:
A repeat of Tuesday - we deliver bulk foods to the Shelter and hotels.
Now we are beginning to know the clients - we have now seen and talked to them several times. They begin to have personalities, and we get to know their special circumstances - there are ways we can help them outside the Red Cross too - sometimes. (See earlier post - Adopt a Shelter)
Between our morning and afternoon run we take a couple of hours off and decide to visit the Capitol. Jackson is the center of government for Mississippi. After a thorough tour of the magnificent Capitol building we are fortunate enough to see the Governor of Mississippi preside at a Press Conference organized to launch Mississippi's rebuilding effort.
Jackson, MS - Tuesday September 27th:
Today our job changes somewhat - we are to deliver bulk foods to a Shelter and to several other hotels. In these cases the food will be distributed by the Shelter staff, or, at the hotels, by the clients themselves.
It is a greater part of our job now to interact with as many of the clients as possible, to provide whatever help, support, friendship we can, and to determine what other specialist help might be needed - medical, mental health etc
Jackson, MS - Monday September 26th:
The Jackson, MS Red Cross Center is a mature site. As I have said in earlier posts, Jackson is 100+ miles from the coast and therefore sustained, relatively little damage. It is however home for a large number of displaced persons who are living in shelters or in local hotels.
At this time the Red Cross is not operating any shelters of its own in the Jackson area, but is supporting by means of shelter management, and of course by the supply of meals to the displaced persons (clients). The Red Cross is providing a sandwich lunch and a hot dinner every day, courtesy of the American People (their donations pay for all this)
On our first day in Jackson we went to several hotels and actual served meals from the ERV
The ERV is a special vehicle outfitted to serve individual meals to the people. It is capable of carrying large quantities of bulk hot or cold food and drinks, and a variety of other items too. The ERV crew serve this food on individual clam shell plates and dispense them through the serving window.
One ERV crew we met recently, who had been deployed down on the Gulf coast, had dispensed over 30,000 meals from their vehicle in about a three week period - a significant achievement.
We dispense these meals to the clients who come to the ERV. It is also part of our job to talk to these people to try to help them, and to gain field information for other Red Cross services.
I have breakfast with my Buddy - Denny, then take him to the airport - he leaves today.
I do some odds and ends, add to this blog and will "process out" this afternoon. I believe the "process out" takes a little time, it includes a session with a Red Cross mental health advisor. Red Cross volunteers are put into many difficult, traumatic and tragic situations, especially when they involve people as they usually do. Many volunteers become deeply effected by these encounters and the Red Cross takes very seriously its responsibility to protect the safety, health and mental health of its volunteers.
Montgomery, AL - Friday September 30th:
I will not be flying back till Sunday October 2nd, so HQ askes me to deliver four new replacement drivers to Jackson - there and back in a day - 500+miles round trip.
Jackson, MS - Thursday September 29th:
All change - I am coming to the end of my deployment - I am supposed to ship out on Saturday September 30th, so Red Cross HQ in Montgomery has me lead two other ERVs back to the Montgomery home base. ERVs are being consolidated there for onward deployment to Beaumont, Texas
Jackson, MS - Wednesday September 28th:
A repeat of Tuesday - we deliver bulk foods to the Shelter and hotels.
Now we are beginning to know the clients - we have now seen and talked to them several times. They begin to have personalities, and we get to know their special circumstances - there are ways we can help them outside the Red Cross too - sometimes. (See earlier post - Adopt a Shelter)
Between our morning and afternoon run we take a couple of hours off and decide to visit the Capitol. Jackson is the center of government for Mississippi. After a thorough tour of the magnificent Capitol building we are fortunate enough to see the Governor of Mississippi preside at a Press Conference organized to launch Mississippi's rebuilding effort.
Jackson, MS - Tuesday September 27th:
Today our job changes somewhat - we are to deliver bulk foods to a Shelter and to several other hotels. In these cases the food will be distributed by the Shelter staff, or, at the hotels, by the clients themselves.
It is a greater part of our job now to interact with as many of the clients as possible, to provide whatever help, support, friendship we can, and to determine what other specialist help might be needed - medical, mental health etc
Jackson, MS - Monday September 26th:
The Jackson, MS Red Cross Center is a mature site. As I have said in earlier posts, Jackson is 100+ miles from the coast and therefore sustained, relatively little damage. It is however home for a large number of displaced persons who are living in shelters or in local hotels.
At this time the Red Cross is not operating any shelters of its own in the Jackson area, but is supporting by means of shelter management, and of course by the supply of meals to the displaced persons (clients). The Red Cross is providing a sandwich lunch and a hot dinner every day, courtesy of the American People (their donations pay for all this)
On our first day in Jackson we went to several hotels and actual served meals from the ERV
The ERV is a special vehicle outfitted to serve individual meals to the people. It is capable of carrying large quantities of bulk hot or cold food and drinks, and a variety of other items too. The ERV crew serve this food on individual clam shell plates and dispense them through the serving window.
One ERV crew we met recently, who had been deployed down on the Gulf coast, had dispensed over 30,000 meals from their vehicle in about a three week period - a significant achievement.
We dispense these meals to the clients who come to the ERV. It is also part of our job to talk to these people to try to help them, and to gain field information for other Red Cross services.
posted by Peter at 12:40 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home