How does your local Red Cross chapter support the national organization in times of disaster and respond to hurricanes and other devastating natural and made-made events?

Each Red Cross chapter has a corps of trained and prepared volunteers who have each made a commitment to be called up, at a moment's notice 24/7, to respond to local incidents or to head off to a disaster site anywhere across the nation.

The National Response volunteers, who can be from any of the 758 chapters across the country, make a pledge to work at a disaster site for up to three weeks. The National Red Cross arranges all travel plans and accommodations for DSHR or Disaster Services Human Resources volunteers as close to the disaster as safely possible. They must be ready to go off in four to 24 hours.

These dedicated folks, who often work 18 or more hours a day, assess the needs of an impacted community opening shelters for overnight stays and heating/warming during events such as snowstorms and power outages. Some DSHR feed citizens nutritious meals and snacks - and always has a coffee pot on - at fixed site or while others go out with a mobile feeding unit or ERV. ERVs typically have a window on the side to pass sandwiches, coffee or prepared meals through. Other DSHR drive through a devastated neighborhood looking for people offering water, clothing, direction to the shelter and a shoulder to lean on. Families which can be back in their homes are offered clean-up kits with mops, buckets and cleaning materials to start the process. These folks may return to a shelter for meals if they have no electricity or stay overnight if the home is still not habitable.

How do regular people become DSHR volunteers? They call their local Red Cross chapter to sign up for a series of disaster classes to learn how to respond to the needs of victims. Typically, they experience a local disaster offering specialized services to the community before they are deployed to a national disaster.

Being on a national disaster is not a vacation. It is hard, dirty work. DSHR stay in accommodations, which are not at all plush or fancy and often take meals at a shelter.

In early September in response to the hurricanes in the southern states, your Red Cross here in Cayuga County began deploying DSHR for assignments. “Mitch” Mitchell, retired Auburn High School principal, is a veteran DSHR and was assigned to Texas. John Dowd, an employee of The Home Depot, was released by the company for a three-week assignment in Mississippi. Others, who will be deployed as the storms hit and needs are evaluated, are Tom Hughes, Jim Campbell, Ed Magdziak and Gary Mann, director of emergency services at the chapter.

The National American Red Cross estimates that the cost of evacuating, feeding, sheltering and assisting the victims of the September/ October season hurricanes will exceed $100 million. Moving people out of harm's way, sheltering and preparing meals is an important aspect of Red Cross work, but the media rarely covers it. Sometimes it seems like there needs to be mass devastation before Americans really see what has happened to our neighbors.

If you care about your fellow citizens and want to help the Red Cross help them, please consider a donation to the American Red Cross National Disaster Fund. You can send your earmarked check to the chapter, 11 State St., Auburn, NY 13021.

Susan Marteney is executive

director of the Cayuga County Chapter of the American Red Cross