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09.27.2009 Local volunteers assist with floods
Photo caption: American Red Cross volunteers Mike Nolan (left), of Florida, and Jim Prive (center) and Craig Jeske (right), of Charlotte, load meals into an emergency response vehicle. Prive and Jeske regularly volunteer with the Greater Carolinas Chapter of the Red Cross in Charlotte. 
ATLANTA, September 27, 2009 – More than a dozen American Red Cross volunteers from the Charlotte metropolitan area have deployed for Georgia to assist in the response to recent flooding.
• The Greater Carolinas Chapter, which covers Iredell and Mecklenburg counties, have sent six people to Georgia
• The Union County Chapter, which covers Union and Anson counties, has sent three people
• The Catawba Valley Chapter, which covers Catawba, Caldwell and Alexander counties, has sent two people
These volunteers are assisting with mental health counseling, mass feeding, public affairs and disaster assessment.
On Sunday morning, Jim Prive and Craig Jeske, Red Cross volunteers from Charlotte, helped load and emergency response vehicles (ERVs) with food and supplies. Prive headed with an ERV to the hard-hit area of Austelle, Ga., to deliver meals to affected residents.
Currently, 20 of these vehicles are serving as mobile feeding units throughout affected areas in the Southeast. The Red Cross also continues to provide shelter, food, mental health counseling and emotional support for residents.
Since flooding began, the Red Cross:
• Has operated a total of seven shelters, two of which remain open
• Has provided more than 1,400 overnight shelter stays for nearly 500 people
• Has had more than 400 staff and volunteers on the ground in affected areas to support the disaster caused needs of clients
• Has 20 Emergency Response Vehicles serving as mobile and fixed site feeding stations
• Is working with emergency partners to establish distribution centers for clean-up kits, comfort-kits, bottled water and other items
The U.S. government has now declared 14 of the 18 affected counties in Georgia as federal disaster areas – Carroll, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton, Gwinnett, Newton, Paulding, Rockdale, Stephens and Walker.
How you can help:
1. You can help people affected by disasters like the current floods by donating to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.
2. Donate blood. Visit www.redcrossblood.org to find a drive near you.
3. Donate your time. Sign up as a Red Cross volunteer.
For continuous updates, visit http://newsroom.redcross.org.
Help people affected by disasters like the current floods by donating to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. On those rare occasions when donations exceed Red Cross expenses for a specific disaster, contributions are used to prepare for and serve victims of other disasters. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for disasters and provide shelter, food, emotional support and other assistance to victims of all disasters. Call 1-800-REDCROSS (1-800-733-2767) or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting redcross.org.
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