This week’s featured volunteer comes to us from western Manitoba.
Kel Smith has been a volunteer with the Canadian Red Cross for more than two years. He volunteers with both the Personal Disaster Assistance (PDA) team and the Emergency Response Team in western Manitoba.
In 2016, he helped people who were impacted by tornadoes and were staying in the community of Russell, Man., immediately after the disaster. That year, he also helped people impacted by the Alberta wildfires by working the Winnipeg call centre. Last year, he helped some of the 7,000 people from Manitoba First Nations who were displaced by wildfires and were evacuated to Brandon.
Besides volunteering many hours with the Red Cross, Kel also volunteers his time with a number of national and local groups. “That’s what keeps me busy,” he said. “I can’t just hang around the house.”
Kel is pleased with the work he has done with the Red Cross in helping people impacted by various disasters.
“I feel proud that I can actually help people in need,” he said.
He also helps people in his area who are affected by small-scale disasters, such as house fires, through the PDA team.
With the Red Cross looking for more local heroes to join our team, Kel wants to encourage people to volunteer because of the impact it can make.
“This is one small way in which you can make things better in your community,” Kel said. “The Red Cross is a trusted organization and people know that you're there to help out. They also provide important training to make you a good Red Cross volunteer.”
He added that it is great to work with a group of people from various walks of life who want to make a difference.
If you are interested in helping by joining our team of local heroes, go to
www.redcross.ca/HeroesWantedMB, email
vrs@redcross.ca or call 204-982-7330 for more details.