I first started working with the Canadian Red Cross through the Belleville Ontario branch in the summer of 2010. I wanted to volunteer somewhere challenging since I had the time, and after looking over a few groups like St. John's Ambulance, I chose the Red Cross Disaster Management, Personal Disaster Assistance team. It appeared to be exciting, interesting and a great way to meet and help people. I enjoyed my time with the Belleville branch very much and received excellent support and training, so when I moved back to Thunder Bay in January of 2011, I made sure I was transferred to the Thunder Bay Branch.
The summer of 2011 was very busy with forest fires, which got so bad that many isolated First Nation communities were evacuated through Thunder Bay. During this time the Disaster Management team was called in to help the evacuees arriving in Thunder Bay. The first day was interesting, challenging but rewarding. We managed to register approximately 200 evacuees that first day, and placed them in a local hotel. I must say that this was my first large scale evacuation and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It was tiring but the evacuees made it worthwhile. I remember one boy named David, who seemed to like following me around. He was a sweet kid, around 4 years old with a great smile. He'd take my hand and come with me as I did various tasks during our time at the ACE hangar. I also remember a woman evacuee who was looking for her husband who had been away working and was trying to meet up with his family in Thunder Bay. She told me her husband was outside the hangar and wanted to come in but was not allowed for security reasons. I talked to my supervisor who then went through the chain of command and eventually after verifying he was the woman's husband I got to lead him into the hangar and watch as he was reunited with his family. This to me was a very special moment, one that I'll never forget.
By the end of the week I found myself being deployed to Dryden as a shelter worker. This was my first deployment and I was really excited about it and a little nervous too. The fires had caused so many evacuations that many Ontario cities and towns were taking in evacuees, including Dryden. The first shelter I worked at was in a closed elementary school. It was a pretty simple set-up using the classrooms for sleeping areas, with a shower, washer and dryer and a small computer lab in the main hallway. The work at both shelters was fairly easy except for the twelve hour shifts. My tasks mainly consisted of restocking towels, and other needed items, chatting with evacuees and making sure they were comfortable. The evacuees kept mostly to themselves and were quiet during the day. While in Dryden I got the opportunity to meet other Red Cross volunteers from around Canada, some of whom had so much experience. They were all willing to share their knowledge and offer a friendly smile. I still keep in touch with some of these people and hope to work with them again one day.
Two weeks after coming home from Dryden I found out I was being deployed to Slave Lake as a case worker, woo hoo! I had been wanting to go and waiting to hear if I'd been accepted. I went through a short orientation in the Edmonton office and met my co-worker Chad, who was also going to Slave Lake to be a case worker. Once in Slave Lake we met the departing workers who spent the afternoon training us. It was a little intimidating being a caseworker after only one afternoon of training but with the Red Cross guidelines easily available, the paperwork ready and our previous training we managed to help people. It was a great feeling, and most of the clients were so kind and friendly, even though they had faced so many hardships. I was particularly impacted by a family whose home had been destroyed by the fire, then had their trailer damaged by the flood. They had beautiful twin girls, and were expecting another baby soon. They spent the rest of the summer living in a tent but came to us for help when it started to get cold at night. We were unable to help them with a voucher or anything so we started calling around and explaining the situation to additional resources without much success. Imagine our surprise and delight when the mother came in and told us that someone had donated both a heater and a small fridge to this family. This small act of kindness helped this family so much and they were so grateful to the Red Cross trying to help that the mother shook all our hands and said thank you with tears in her eyes.
As a volunteer in these situations I experienced a lot of emotions such as sadness and empathy, I also experienced a sense of pride for the Slave Lake victims who were moving forward and rebuilding after losing so much. I experienced anger and disappointment for those clients who needed help that we were unable to give. Aside from that it was a great experience that left me with new friends throughout Canada, I developed new administrative and people skills. I learned how to say no to people, and am a lot more confident and capable. I really feel like a true member of the Red Cross team. It also inspired me to take the Supervising Disaster Services and Supervising Disaster Workers courses which were also wonderful and taught me so much about working in a supervisory role and about myself as a person. Working as a volunteer for the Red Cross in disaster management is one of the best choices I've ever made. The support, training and experience I've receive has changed me as a person for the better. I used to be very quiet, shy and not very confident in myself. Working in disaster management has given me a purpose, confidence to be a solid leader and the knowledge that the team and I are really making a difference in the lives of those we help. I plan on continuing to work with the Red Cross for as long as I can, going on as many deployments as I can and taking advantage of the incredible training available to volunteers.
Lynda Henshell
Happy Canadian Red Cross Disaster Management volunteer.
The summer of 2011 was very busy with forest fires, which got so bad that many isolated First Nation communities were evacuated through Thunder Bay. During this time the Disaster Management team was called in to help the evacuees arriving in Thunder Bay. The first day was interesting, challenging but rewarding. We managed to register approximately 200 evacuees that first day, and placed them in a local hotel. I must say that this was my first large scale evacuation and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It was tiring but the evacuees made it worthwhile. I remember one boy named David, who seemed to like following me around. He was a sweet kid, around 4 years old with a great smile. He'd take my hand and come with me as I did various tasks during our time at the ACE hangar. I also remember a woman evacuee who was looking for her husband who had been away working and was trying to meet up with his family in Thunder Bay. She told me her husband was outside the hangar and wanted to come in but was not allowed for security reasons. I talked to my supervisor who then went through the chain of command and eventually after verifying he was the woman's husband I got to lead him into the hangar and watch as he was reunited with his family. This to me was a very special moment, one that I'll never forget.
By the end of the week I found myself being deployed to Dryden as a shelter worker. This was my first deployment and I was really excited about it and a little nervous too. The fires had caused so many evacuations that many Ontario cities and towns were taking in evacuees, including Dryden. The first shelter I worked at was in a closed elementary school. It was a pretty simple set-up using the classrooms for sleeping areas, with a shower, washer and dryer and a small computer lab in the main hallway. The work at both shelters was fairly easy except for the twelve hour shifts. My tasks mainly consisted of restocking towels, and other needed items, chatting with evacuees and making sure they were comfortable. The evacuees kept mostly to themselves and were quiet during the day. While in Dryden I got the opportunity to meet other Red Cross volunteers from around Canada, some of whom had so much experience. They were all willing to share their knowledge and offer a friendly smile. I still keep in touch with some of these people and hope to work with them again one day.
Two weeks after coming home from Dryden I found out I was being deployed to Slave Lake as a case worker, woo hoo! I had been wanting to go and waiting to hear if I'd been accepted. I went through a short orientation in the Edmonton office and met my co-worker Chad, who was also going to Slave Lake to be a case worker. Once in Slave Lake we met the departing workers who spent the afternoon training us. It was a little intimidating being a caseworker after only one afternoon of training but with the Red Cross guidelines easily available, the paperwork ready and our previous training we managed to help people. It was a great feeling, and most of the clients were so kind and friendly, even though they had faced so many hardships. I was particularly impacted by a family whose home had been destroyed by the fire, then had their trailer damaged by the flood. They had beautiful twin girls, and were expecting another baby soon. They spent the rest of the summer living in a tent but came to us for help when it started to get cold at night. We were unable to help them with a voucher or anything so we started calling around and explaining the situation to additional resources without much success. Imagine our surprise and delight when the mother came in and told us that someone had donated both a heater and a small fridge to this family. This small act of kindness helped this family so much and they were so grateful to the Red Cross trying to help that the mother shook all our hands and said thank you with tears in her eyes.
As a volunteer in these situations I experienced a lot of emotions such as sadness and empathy, I also experienced a sense of pride for the Slave Lake victims who were moving forward and rebuilding after losing so much. I experienced anger and disappointment for those clients who needed help that we were unable to give. Aside from that it was a great experience that left me with new friends throughout Canada, I developed new administrative and people skills. I learned how to say no to people, and am a lot more confident and capable. I really feel like a true member of the Red Cross team. It also inspired me to take the Supervising Disaster Services and Supervising Disaster Workers courses which were also wonderful and taught me so much about working in a supervisory role and about myself as a person. Working as a volunteer for the Red Cross in disaster management is one of the best choices I've ever made. The support, training and experience I've receive has changed me as a person for the better. I used to be very quiet, shy and not very confident in myself. Working in disaster management has given me a purpose, confidence to be a solid leader and the knowledge that the team and I are really making a difference in the lives of those we help. I plan on continuing to work with the Red Cross for as long as I can, going on as many deployments as I can and taking advantage of the incredible training available to volunteers.
Lynda Henshell
Happy Canadian Red Cross Disaster Management volunteer.
