USA: Red Cross workers from around the world join Katrina relief efforts

Written by Allen Crabtree , Special to Redcross.org

Thursday, October 06, 2005 - MANDEVILLE, La. - The American Red Cross has teamed with the Southern Baptist National Convention and Red Cross society workers from France, Norway and Canada to feed victims of Hurricane Katrina in St. Tammany Parish, La.

"The American Red Cross was in place and serving meals the day after the hurricane came through," said Patrick Keena, American Red Cross Site Manager at the mass feeding operation in Mandeville, La. "We staged our trucks and supplies in Montgomery, Ala., and were able to move in immediately and start feeding."

Keena explained that the team includes 39 workers from the American Red Cross, the French, Norwegian and Canadian Red Cross, as well as a contingent from the Southern Baptist Convention partners. Together, the team prepares and distributes more than 15,000 meals a day as part of the Red Cross disaster relief effort at the Koop Drive governmental complex.

"We will continue the mass feeding operation as long as there is a need," said Keena.

The mass feeding operation is a hive of activity that fills the parking lots of the Koop Drive complex. Fork lifts scurry to-and-fro moving pallets of supplies as Red Cross workers unload trucks. There are tents and canvas shelters stacked with piles of food and water.

A large semi-trailer emblazoned with a colorful mural dominates the operation. This is the "Spirit of America" mobile kitchen that was donated to the American Red Cross in honor of two victims of the Sept. 11 tragedy in New York.

Don Martin, the "Blue Cap" supervisor of the Southern Baptist Convention contingent at the Mandeville feeding operation, gave a tour of the "Spirit of America" kitchen. The trailer contains commercial-sized ovens, stoves and refrigerators as well as a food preparation area. Workers can produce up to 20,000 meals a day in the "Spirit of America."

"Southern Baptist cooks start at 4 a.m. each morning to prepare hot meals for Hurricane Katrina survivors in the area," Martin said. "We prepare a different menu each day, and even have a local chef on our crew to cook up regional dishes whenever we can."

The international team composed of workers from Red Cross societies around the world then packs the hot meals into cambros containers and loads them into Emergency Response Vehicles (ERVs). American Red Cross drivers take the ERVs into the areas damaged by the hurricane to deliver meals, water and other supplies to those in need.

"People in many neighborhoods are without power and are very glad to see us come with the meals," said Jackie Enriquez, a Red Cross volunteer from Pasadena, Calif.

A number of the international workers play a key role in the mass feeding operation. Eighteen logisticians from the French Red Cross and eight from the Norwegian Red Cross responded to a request from the American Red Cross for assistance with Hurricane Katrina disaster relief. This is the first time that French and Norwegian Red Cross workers have worked with the American Red Cross on an American disaster, and by all accounts it has been a success.

"I wanted to come help because the principles of the Red Cross have given me a good life," said Eivind Spiten from Oslo, Norway. His Oslo partner Borge Wersen added: "My family knows that this is a big opportunity to do something they know I want to do."

"This has been a very successful operation, and we couldn't have done this without the International Red Cross contribution," said Keena. "Their help has been invaluable."

Allen Crabtree is a volunteer from the Southern Maine Chapter of the American Red Cross and lives in Sebago, Maine, where he is a writer, antiquarian book dealer, blueberry farmer, town Selectman, volunteer fire fighter and ambulance driver.

All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of recents disasters and thousands of other disasters across the country each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those in need. Call 1-800-HELP NOW 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 www.redcross.org. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster please do so at the time of your donation.