Rallying to Support the Community

Bob and his team of volunteers from all across the country.

By Pat Kondas

After a career in the restaurant business and a year with the American Red Cross, Bob Henry served on his first official Red Cross deployment in Western Kentucky. He began his assignment managing an Emergency Aid Distribution Station in Dawson Springs, one of the towns hardest hit by the recent tornado.

The Emergency Aid Stations were a new solution for the Red Cross. With such widespread damage and thousands of homes affected, Red Cross teams set up mobile stations to provide supplies, as well as health and mental health services to people affected by the tornado. Bob began managing anywhere from six to twelve people, working under all kinds of conditions, including near-freezing temperatures – one of the items he provided to the Health and Mental Health workers is a heater for their area. Despite the conditions, he estimates they served 75-100 people each day, handing out shovels, rakes, cleanup kits, totes and other items. They also provided moral and emotional support.

Bob said they had people stopping by to pick up supplies, "[...] and then they realized that there's somebody here that they can talk to.” One problem that he said they saw from the people that stopped by was guilt – that they were okay, while so many of their neighbor’s homes didn't make it. He said that the Mental Health workers rallied to support the people who were working through that.

Bob had volunteered during the floods in Kentucky last spring, driving Disaster Assessment teams around, and he got some experience then. “But,” he said, “this is the first time I've ever been on ground zero before. I've been through storms, some tragedies. Nothing like this.”

Bob Henry at the Emergency Aid Distribution Station in Dawson Springs, KY.

As far as the Red Cross efforts go, Bob shared, "We have been able to do what we're supposed to do as far as get the materials out and provide support.”

The Red Cross thanks you, Bob, for being there to provide the needed support – material and moral. 

There are many different ways to volunteer. Training is free, but the hope you provide is priceless. Visit redcross.org/volunteertoday to get started today.