Volunteers from across the country and here in the Kentucky Region are on the ground in Eastern Kentucky, helping to provide a safe place to stay, food to eat, critical relief supplies and emotional support for those affected by flash flooding. David Silver, a volunteer from the Bluegrass Area Chapter in the Kentucky Region, is one of the hundreds of trained Red Cross disaster workers offering support.
David began volunteering with the Red Cross in 1960 as a training instructor. He taught courses on swimming, canoeing, sailing and first aid. Professionally, David was a firefighter for 23 years in Philadelphia. He and his wife then moved to Richmond, Kentucky where he was a teacher at Madison Central High School for 18 years.
“I started deploying to disasters about 8 or 9 years ago,” said David. After flooding impacted Eastern Kentucky, David worked as the shelter manager for the Floyd County Community Center, helping families. “In 2 days, we were able to help about 460 families get supplies.”
David expressed astonishment for the affection shown at the shelter, saying “The people here are taking care of each other. I just can’t believe it. It’s the community coming together.”
In his years of deployment, he expressed that this one just felt different: “It’s all family here. And the family sticks together.”
A true Red Cross veteran, David has done Disaster Action Team (DAT) work as well. He has seen devastation up close, and he knows it’s his job to help.
“It’s what you do as a human being,” said David. He’s an empathetic person by nature, also serving on the bereavement committee at his church. “I tell people: Things happen. What happened to you was bad. But you are going to survive. You are going to make it.”
Our hearts go out to all families impacted by the eastern Kentucky floods. If you are interested in volunteering with the Red Cross, go to redcross.org/volunteer.
A true Red Cross veteran, David has done Disaster Action Team (DAT) work as well. He has seen devastation up close, and he knows it’s his job to help.
“It’s what you do as a human being,” said David. He’s an empathetic person by nature, also serving on the bereavement committee at his church. “I tell people: Things happen. What happened to you was bad. But you are going to survive. You are going to make it.”
Our hearts go out to all families impacted by the eastern Kentucky floods. If you are interested in volunteering with the Red Cross, go to redcross.org/volunteer.
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