“A normal Red Cross day is a misnomer!
Saturday, April 24, I’m deployed to Mississippi to help with media in response to two F-4 tornadoes, in the middle of the Red Cross 5 Carat Ball planning. The day after I get back, Arkansas has two terrifying days of 20 tornadoes with two weeks of disaster response. Friday, June 11, I had planned to leave early after our board meeting, but by 9:30 a.m. it was obvious the Albert Pike Campground flood was an international event. Before sunrise a few days later, we’re responding to two apartment fires that displaced 24 Arkansans. No matter the unpredictability, because of our amazing Red Cross workers, I work through the craziness knowing we’re on the spot and making a difference at the worst time for those in need of disaster relief and care,” she says.
“Red Cross is great for my attention deficit! I can process fairly quickly what seems like chaos and bedlam. I can’t fall apart, because those impacted or about to be impacted, want us to inform, to direct or to support them, not to commensurate in their difficulty.”
Most people are unaware we respond to residential fires, an average of three per day, just as we would a tornado with immediate disaster relief, she says.
“A couple of years ago, just hours after an apartment complex explosion displaced more than 70 residents, a 4 a.m. call required response to a home fire with fatalities–two young children. As you can imagine the family was distraught. As a mother of two children, I can imagine what the mother was going through. I had never been more proud, as our Red Cross mental health worker, Dawn Harris, was at the home tending to different family members’ emotions and our disaster team captain, Debbie Turley, tenderly presented the mother with two teddy bears in memory of her children. (We present bears to kids after traumatic events). Our volunteers are simply amazing,” she remembers.
With so many disasters of late, how can the Red Cross afford the costs? Can Arkansans afford it? If Williams had a magic wand, she would wave it and ask for numerous multiple year gifts of $5 million.
“Of course Arkansas can give more, can’t we all? If we could sit with Arkansans in small groups and explain how integral Red Cross is or may be in their lives, or the lives of those they love, they would give or give more happily. The need for support isn’t just after a big disaster, but on an ongoing basis. I have yet to speak to people about what Red Cross does 24/7/365 and not have him or her say ‘I didn’t know Red Cross did that?’ And, with .91 of each dollar going to direct services, you will get your monies worth.”
Besides money what can people do to help? “People can be prepared to prevent and respond to emergencies. It sounds trite, but individuals and companies becoming trained in health and safety such as first aid, CPR/AED, life-guarding or babysitter training not only supports Red Cross, it enables more people to respond to situations where there may not be professional response and lives are counting on it. They can also take heed to weather watches and warnings—it saves lives. And get a NOAA weather radio!”