PHOTO: Ruth Lathrop, of Windham, is one of many Red Cross volunteers from Maine who have recently volunteered at disaster areas across the country. (Submiitted photo)
PORTLAND — Ruth Lathrop, of Windham, is among the more than 5,000 Red Cross volunteers who have supported disaster relief efforts on the ground or virtually since Aug. 19.
A seasoned disaster responder, Lathrop recently returned home after a deployment where she distributed emergency supplies to Hurricane Laura survivors in Louisiana. She was part of an effort that went into communities that were without power or water to deliver items water and items like shovels and clean-up kits.
Upon her return, she recalled the gratitude of a woman who had been picking up bits of insulation with her bare hands.
“You give someone a pair of gloves and they act like you’ve given them gold,” Lathrop said. “It was really rewarding. We were giving them something they need.”
Thousands of volunteers like Lathrop are working tirelessly across the country to provide food, shelter, comfort and other support to people in disaster survivors.
Many of these dedicated humanitarians have themselves been affected by the ongoing wildfires or hurricanes. On Tuesday night, the Red Cross and its partners cared for nearly 30,000 people in emergency lodgings.
The Northern New England Region of the American Red Cross continues to deploy volunteers to large-scale disasters around the country. Faced with wildfires, hurricanes and other disasters, the humanitarian organization needs additional volunteers to help people in urgent need.
For the past several weeks, the Red Cross has been helping tens of thousands of people whose lives have been uprooted by the Midwest Derecho, the relentless wildfires in the West, Hurricane Laura and catastrophic flooding caused by Hurricane Sally.
The Red Cross needs to add to its volunteer ranks to support disaster relief efforts locally and around the country. Volunteers are needed to help staff shelter reception, registration, feeding, dormitory, information collection and other vital tasks. Review the most urgently needed volunteer positions at redcross.org/volunteertoday].
The Red Cross also urges eligible individuals in parts of the country unaffected by these disasters to give blood or platelets to help ensure a sufficient blood supply for patients in need. Please schedule an appointment to donate by using the Red Cross Blood Donor app, visiting RedCrossBlood.org or calling 800-RED CROSS.
