BUFFALO, N.Y. — With Hurricane Laura making landfall in Louisiana and wildfires in California, many American Red Cross volunteers from Western New York are lending a hand to support disaster relief efforts.
Jay Bonafede, the chief communications officer for the American Red Cross' WNY region said there are currently 22 volunteers from the larger Western New York area assisting those in need in disaster areas.
Many volunteers have been deployed to California, Texas and Louisiana to meet up with hundreds of other Red Cross volunteers from around the country.
Some of these volunteers are assisting disaster efforts virtually.
"We've prioritized sort of a virtual response, and it is different," said Bonafede. "One thing we like to talk about is giving a Red Cross hug and we are not able to do that but we can have a lot of those conversations through FaceTime Zoom or Team."
Rachael Snyder, is a Red Cross volunteer from Buffalo. She is headed to Texas on Friday to help run shelters.
"Registering people that are seeking shelter, it may be with helping feed, it could be something like hanging signage there are lots of different tasks and roles that have to happen to keep a shelter up and running," she said.
Bonafede said the Red Cross is in need of volunteers not only to assist with disaster relief nationally but also here at home in Western New York.
Those interested in volunteering can click here, or can register to be volunteers if a disaster occurs by emailing WCNY.VSRecruitment@redcross.org.