An honour to be part of the Red Cross team
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Doug Bryson came all the way from St. Johns, Newfoundland, to volunteer on two separate occasions. | |
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During his first deployment, he and his team were responsible for supporting Red Cross front-line volunteers at the nine shelters housing evacuees throughout the province.
“The Red Cross, as an organization, was able to hit the ground running. We were able to help cut through a lot of the red tape by working with the government and other agencies,” says Doug. “I was really struck by the pre-planning and organization within the Red Cross and how we were able to meet people’s needs. I was honoured to be a part of this.”
During his second deployment, Doug and his team helped re-populate the town and distribute clean-up kits. “One of the things I noticed right away was the difference in how some people were affected by the disaster. Some of the residents came in and were focused and ready to move on. Others were obviously still traumatized, wandering around and unable to focus on anything,” says Doug,
“There was a big range in how residents had been impacted by the fires. Everyone was impacted in some way, but some families had lost everything and others who lived a street over, only needed a new refrigerator because the power had been turned off.”
“Since the Canadian Red Cross acts as an auxiliary to government, we are able to respond in a pre-determined capacity and roles in an efficient, organized, and cost-effective manner,” said Doug. “This applies whether our role is shelter management, registration and inquiry, or whatever other jobs we may be asked to assume.”
