GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – A group of volunteers will soon drive to Florida to assist communities damaged by Hurricane Ian.
“We’re driving the Green Bay emergency response vehicle down to Florida. Once we get down there, we will receive an assignment and will be going into one of the communities in Florida that has been devastated by the hurricane,” said Lynn Marquardt, a Red Cross volunteer.
The Red Cross of Green Bay is sending multiple emergency vehicles to help those affected by Hurricane Ian. Marquardt is a retired nurse practitioner and says she is no stranger to volunteering during a natural disaster.
“We’ve been going out to disasters for about six years. Last year we were down in Louisiana, in the Bayou, serving people who had lost their homes and serving hot meals. About 500 meals for lunch and 500 meals for dinner,” stated Marquardt.
Red Cross Executive Director, Steven Hansen says the entire organization is prepared for the worst, “We started planning at least a week ago for this at the national and local level because we operate as one Red Cross, and we know where all of our resources are all across the country.”
Six volunteers are traveling to Florida to provide help to those in need. Hansen says that even more volunteers may soon be on their way.
“We could in fact be sending down more emergency drivers. We definitely will be sending down more volunteers as time goes by. Right now, we have 14 volunteers from Wisconsin that are down there, nine are on standby, and then we will continue to see volunteers funnel down and come back over the course of the next three months,” said Hansen.
The volunteers are expected to arrive in Florida within a few days. If interested in donating, you can text “ian” to 9-0-9-9-9 to make a one-time donation of $10 to the American Red Cross.