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American Red Cross volunteers Lois and Randy Bogart prepare to go to southern California to help people displaced by the wildfire there.
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ENLARGE
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Ken Topliss
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A contingent of Western Colorado residents this week made the trek to southern California to help people whose lives have been torched by wildfire.
American Red Cross volunteers and Grand Junction residents Lois and Randy Bogart and Ken Topliss and El Jebel resident Sharen Kurtz arrived Wednesday to San Diego.
The four are completing different tasks as part of a multi-state, multi-agency response, said Nancy Stills, executive director of the American Red Cross, Western Colorado Chapter.
These volunteers have responded many times to disasters in the country, whether the disasters happen in Western Colorado or the Western United States, Stills said.
“We’re out there helping people in need in this disaster, but if the wind blew differently, it would be here, and the same great Red Cross response would be here,” Stills said.
All of these volunteers also respond “to disasters in our own community, whether they’re house fires, avalanches, search and rescues,” Stills said.
For the San Diego fire, Kurtz and Topliss were immediately sent to a church shelter the Red Cross is partnering with, with Kurtz working in shelter relief and Topliss working logistics.
“They’re helping this church shelter 100 people,” Stills said.
The church “is so thrilled to have them,” it brought in inflatable mattresses for the Red Cross volunteers, when “everyone else is sleeping on the floor and on cots,” Stills said.
“They want to do something for the people helping them. They’re helping us.”
Working out of the Red Cross’ Emergency Response Vehicle, or ERV, stationed in western Colorado, The Bogarts are assigned to feed people displaced by the blaze.
The Grand Junction couple have joined many other volunteers at Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres professional baseball team and temporary home of people evacuated from their homes because of the fire.
The Bogarts reported seeing thick smoke from as far away as San Bernardino as they zeroed in on their destination, Stills said. Wednesday night, they ended up unrolling their sleeping bags on the floor of a staff shelter at a high school in San Diego.
Thursday, the Bogarts were teamed with another ERV, this one from Arizona, and together they went to Valley Center, north of San Diego, to feed people. They also teamed with First Baptist Kitchen, huge kitchens that can facilitate feeding thousands of people, Stills said.
There, they also met hundreds of Red Cross volunteers from elsewhere, pulling together to help.
Despite coming from elsewhere, because they all had the same training, they can work seamlessly, Stills said.
“The one thing that always amazes me about all these people coming together from Red Cross, it’s really because of the training,” Stills said. “They can work together like they’ve been together all along because they’ve had the same training.”
Many people ask Stills how people can volunteer when they have jobs.
The Bogarts own a business in Grand Junction and have family members and employees run it while they’re away.
Topliss is retired.
Kurtz has the type of work she can volunteer between her jobs, Stills said.
To volunteer, all had to agree to be deployed for a minimum of two weeks.
Anyone can be a volunteer, Stills said.
“Everyone has something to offer.”
For information, call 242-4851.
Reach Marija B. Vader at mvader@gjfreepress.com.
American Red Cross volunteers and Grand Junction residents Lois and Randy Bogart and Ken Topliss and El Jebel resident Sharen Kurtz arrived Wednesday to San Diego.
The four are completing different tasks as part of a multi-state, multi-agency response, said Nancy Stills, executive director of the American Red Cross, Western Colorado Chapter.
These volunteers have responded many times to disasters in the country, whether the disasters happen in Western Colorado or the Western United States, Stills said.
“We’re out there helping people in need in this disaster, but if the wind blew differently, it would be here, and the same great Red Cross response would be here,” Stills said.
All of these volunteers also respond “to disasters in our own community, whether they’re house fires, avalanches, search and rescues,” Stills said.
For the San Diego fire, Kurtz and Topliss were immediately sent to a church shelter the Red Cross is partnering with, with Kurtz working in shelter relief and Topliss working logistics.
“They’re helping this church shelter 100 people,” Stills said.
The church “is so thrilled to have them,” it brought in inflatable mattresses for the Red Cross volunteers, when “everyone else is sleeping on the floor and on cots,” Stills said.
“They want to do something for the people helping them. They’re helping us.”
Working out of the Red Cross’ Emergency Response Vehicle, or ERV, stationed in western Colorado, The Bogarts are assigned to feed people displaced by the blaze.
The Grand Junction couple have joined many other volunteers at Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres professional baseball team and temporary home of people evacuated from their homes because of the fire.
The Bogarts reported seeing thick smoke from as far away as San Bernardino as they zeroed in on their destination, Stills said. Wednesday night, they ended up unrolling their sleeping bags on the floor of a staff shelter at a high school in San Diego.
Thursday, the Bogarts were teamed with another ERV, this one from Arizona, and together they went to Valley Center, north of San Diego, to feed people. They also teamed with First Baptist Kitchen, huge kitchens that can facilitate feeding thousands of people, Stills said.
There, they also met hundreds of Red Cross volunteers from elsewhere, pulling together to help.
Despite coming from elsewhere, because they all had the same training, they can work seamlessly, Stills said.
“The one thing that always amazes me about all these people coming together from Red Cross, it’s really because of the training,” Stills said. “They can work together like they’ve been together all along because they’ve had the same training.”
Many people ask Stills how people can volunteer when they have jobs.
The Bogarts own a business in Grand Junction and have family members and employees run it while they’re away.
Topliss is retired.
Kurtz has the type of work she can volunteer between her jobs, Stills said.
To volunteer, all had to agree to be deployed for a minimum of two weeks.
Anyone can be a volunteer, Stills said.
“Everyone has something to offer.”
For information, call 242-4851.
Reach Marija B. Vader at mvader@gjfreepress.com.
