This year the Red Cross has responded to a groundbreaking number of disasters. How can I tell? I’m in charge of a 95,000 square foot Red Cross warehouse that ships disaster supplies to affected areas – and we have been busy! When I first joined the Red Cross in January 2007 the first few months were relatively calm compared to the past year. I would say the long hours of going into the warehouse at 8 a.m. and not leaving until midnight began in October 2007 with the California wildfires. Since then, being busy has become a habit at the warehouse as the Red Cross continued to respond to wildfires and winter storms throughout the end of 2007. Then 2008 began with even more winter storms, flooding in multiple states (in April, June and September) and most recently Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

In my role as Warehouse Manager, I am one of the many people working behind the scenes to help move cots, blankets and ready-to-eat meals into the affected areas. Although I don’t personally hand a blanket to someone needing to keep warm or deliver a meal to someone cleaning up from a flood, the satisfaction of knowing those of us in the warehouse are an integral part of getting these supplies to the people who need them most is rewarding.

Keeping track of the thousands of supplies shipped in and out of the warehouse during a disaster can be overwhelming. Thankfully, there is a great group of volunteers to help load and unload the semi-trucks with cots, blankets and clean-up kits. We certainly have moved the supplies in and out of the warehouse this year. In response to the Midwest flooding early this summer, we shipped 70% of the supplies stored in the St. Louis warehouse out (including about 40,000 clean-up kits). We had just gotten restocked before we turned around to ship 60% of our stock of supplies out to the Gulf Coast. Right now all of our blankets and almost half of our cots are gone.

Every day is different but one thing remains the same – it’s a pleasure to work with a diverse pool of volunteers that is flexible, reliable and dependable. Although things have slowed down some, we are still busy shifting items and restocking supplies in the warehouse so that we are prepared for the next disaster. Hopefully, that won’t be any time soon.

Until next time.

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3 comments so far...

Re: Tony Diaz – Working Behind the Scenes, Shipping Supplies to Disaster Affected Areas Hey, Tony--you run a great warehouse and you're always so good about telling the story to the reporters who come through the facility. Can't thank you enough for your team spirit and flexibility! By Jessica on   10/14/2008 9:09 PM

Re: Tony Diaz – Working Behind the Scenes, Shipping Supplies to Disaster Affected Areas Have you seen that new product that some of the chapters are using for clients after home fires? Warehousing it should be a breeze and distribution by the volunteers couldn't be simpler. www.outfittogo.org By Becky on   10/10/2008 11:27 AM

Re: Tony Diaz – Working Behind the Scenes, Shipping Supplies to Disaster Affected Areas Working with Tony at the warehouse has been a great experience. He is down to earth and easy going too. By Rodolfo on   10/8/2008 11:10 AM