Relief dollars lighten the load

Note: The following appeal is now closed.  You can support our ongoing work by donating to the Canadian Red Cross

 

By Mary Ferguson

Canadian Red Cross volunteer in Alabama and Mississippi

The bone-weary look in their eyes and the slow response to basic questions are tell-tale signs of  fatigue from non-stop strain more than two weeks after  Hurricane Katrina. First responders and residents alike who come to the American Red Cross service centres for financial help may show the signs of their ordeal, but they are not about to complain.

You’re more likely to hear words of polite appreciation, and surprise that so many people have to come to help those who have lost everything. Almost everyone thanks the volunteers profusely despite the long wait, sometimes in blistering heat.

One elderly lady applying for funds for herself and her 80-year-old husband smiles with a sense of resignation as she explains that they are still without power and are living in the shade of their porch in the stifling heat and humidity. "Is there any shade around the house?" asks the Red Cross volunteer.  "We have 29 trees. None of them are standing any more. But we are fine. It cools off at night so we sleep on the porch because it is like an oven in the house."

These clients are among the 950,000 people from the affected states who will receive assistance from Red Cross donors from Canada, the United States and beyond.  They can call a 1-800 number or visit service centres set up in the hardest hit area to help get funds to those most in need. The call line and service centres will operate as long as it takes - and until everyone who qualifies for help receives it.

A firefighter takes a break from her marathon of work to apply for funds for herself and her elderly parents. When asked how they are, she tears up and says, "It’s kind of hard for them to start all over again at their age and so many of their friends are gone now.  It’s hard for them."  She stops for composure and says, "I’m better not to talk about it or I won’t get through this."

A few minutes late she relates that she has been on the job non-stop since the Hurricane hit her hometown of Gulfport, Mississippi. "The firefighters have been checking areas and there were so many bodies.  Just so many bodies. At least  we are past that part now."

Cheryl is a dental hygienist who is back on the job now but she is also volunteering as an office administrator at night and on weekends with the fire department of her hometown of Biloxi while the deluge of work continues. Her husband is out of work due to the hurricane so he stays at home with the three girls while she works. She will receive $1,565 for her family which "will help repair the roof - at least we have one so we are much better off than most. I cannot complain but I do feel like I’m about to drop."

A firefighter from Gulfport  tells how his family moved into a new house three days before the storm hit. He looks like he is sleepwalking but shrugs off the exhaustion by saying, "we just have to keep going. Thank you so much for this - it will really help us hire someone to roof the house because I am too busy to help."

Sheryl laughs as she gives her address as Shoreline Road. "I don’t think I will stay by the shore anymore after what we went through."  She and her boyfriend watched as the water in her bungalow rose 13 feet in one hour. Carrying her cats in two carrying cages held above the water, she swam next door to the neighbours who have a two-storey home.  "There were eight of us in their attic. One lady could not swim and she was panicking.  The teenagers were very anxious so that was hard on our nerves but we made it through."

As she finishes her application, her voice breaks and she compliments the Red Cross worker for helping. "I’m lucky because I have a job and my family is fine. I just need to keep busy. I’m not worried about the house - stuff just doesn’t seem that important any more."