Red Cross looks to veterans to help with shelters

Sep. 18--EXETER -- The American Red Cross is a household name for most, though many have never had to use its services.

For SQF Complex Fire evacuees, however, the American Red Cross is at the center of relief efforts, providing food and shelter for those who need it. Volunteers are set up at two locations, one at Porterville College and the other at Exeter Memorial Building.

"I have been with the Red Cross since Katrina hit," said Ray Quintana, one of two volunteers at the Exeter location. "We just go to the areas where we are needed."

Quintana, joined by volunteer John Martinez, detailed his experiences volunteering with the Red Cross and each natural disaster the two have helped respond to.

Both Quintana and Martinez are veterans. Martinez served in the military where he then became a firefighter, while Quintana is a Vietnam War veteran.

"You see a lot of older people out here doing this stuff," Martinez said. "We do it for free because we like to volunteer."

"You have to do it," Quintana said through his "Choose VA" face mask.

He believes that volunteering has helped him manage and cope with post-traumatic stress disorder because it feels rewarding to help those in need.

"About 6% of Red Cross employees include transitioning military or veterans -- from nurses to logisticians, emergency management experts, project managers and preparedness experts, as well as a number of veterans in leadership roles at local Red Cross chapters across the country," a November 2019 press release from the Red Cross stated.

Visalia Fire Battalion Chief Darrin Hughes is a Red Cross volunteer. On Tuesday, he was helping evacuees at the Porterville City College location.

"I see both sides of the disaster. I was the one who was calling the Red Cross when I was an incident commander in Visalia," he said. Hughes has been volunteering for the group for three years now.

The Visalia Fire Department and Red Cross have a partnership that allows them to work more succinctly together, which made it that much easier for him to commit his time to the group, Hughes said.

But the Red Cross is facing unprecedented times right now, with COVID-19 still prominent nationwide, coupled with countless natural disasters occurring, the organization is being spread thin.

Volunteers make up 90 percent of the Red Cross' workforce, according to Red Cross officials.

The organization is currently taking volunteer applications for shelter service associates and shelter supervisors, disaster health services associates and supervisors, as well as blood donors and virtual volunteers.

Evacuees looking for shelter with the Red Cross may have to travel as far as Hanford because of limited staff availability, Martinez said. The Red Cross houses evacuees for the duration of the mandatory evacuation, which means hotels in the area may remain at capacity for some time.

There is not an official date, or even a time frame, for when the SQF Complex Fire will be extinguished let alone when evacuees will be able to return home. The fire again spread overnight to nearly 125,000 acres.

But even when evacuees are given the green-light to travel home, the Red Cross doesn't just move on to the next disaster, they continue follow-ups for up to a year following the event.

The Red Cross offers emotional support, health services and critical relief items on top of shelter and food. To find out more information on the services that the American Red Cross provides as well as information on volunteering, visit redcross.org.

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