Response trucks from around the upper Midwest are rolling in to the American Red Cross in Minneapolis. The trucks are getting GPS hardware that allows for live tracking during relief efforts.
Live tracking will be especially helpful when trucks are bringing aid to remote areas. “They’ll be able to find us,” says Earl, a volunteer based in Wisconsin.
Earl became a volunteer after seeing the Red Cross helping people during Hurricane Charley in 2004. “Before that I didn’t give to the Red Cross,” says Earl. “During Charley I saw the other side.”
Earl was on the road for 100 days in 2016 and 60 days in 2017 bring disaster relief to people in need. This included after heavy flooding in Louisiana.
There, he found himself nearly trapped by rising high water on a rural road. “I realized I couldn’t get through,” says Earl about reaching a swamp area unexpectedly in a parish near Baton Rouge.
His childhood on a farm, he says, calms any fear he might have in tough situations. Simply, he’s a volunteer because he says, “I enjoy this.”
Story and photos by Lynette Nyman/American Red Cross
American Red Cross Minnesota and Dakotas Region 