"The most challenging part of the experience was seeing the destruction of the hurricane firsthand and how it instantly changed people's lives."
Priscilla Belamide of Embassy Christian Center recently volunteered with the
Red Cross to help hurricane victims. We caught up with her to talk about the experience. Below are excerpts from that conversation.
Talk a bit about how you got involved w/ the Red Cross . . .
I was watching CNN and a man holding his little boy's hand was crying while telling how he lost his wife in the hurricane because he couldn't hold onto her any longer. The last thing his wife said to him was "take care of our baby" and she lost grip of his hand. The man seemed disoriented, not knowing where he and his son would go since they had lost everything. They walked away from the camera with no food, shelter or aid. Shortly after I saw the interview on CNN, I heard the
Red Cross was taking volunteers to be deployed to Mississippi and I felt compelled to do something to help, so I signed up for training.
Where did it take you?
I was flown out to Biloxi, Mississippi, and stayed in a shelter at the Naval Base with over 1,000 volunteers. Most of my time was spent providing family services to the victims of Hurricane Katrina and Rita in Picayune, Mississippi. This entailed meeting individual, emergency needs of families following a disaster by

talking to victims, directing them to shelters, providing food and financial assistance. Some days we drove out in the ERV's (Emergency Relief Vehicles) to take hot meals to the individuals and families. We also fed FEMA, firefighters,
National Guardsmen, policemen and other volunteer groups that were there for
Katrina Relief efforts. We had other Red Cross teams that would deliver boxes of cleaning kits, blankets, water, shovels and packaged foods to the churches to distribute to their communities.
Most challenging part of the experience?
The most challenging part of the experience was seeing the destruction of the hurricane firsthand and how it instantly changed people's lives. Some people lost everything and didn't know how or where to even start again.
Most rewarding part?
Being able to help and encourage the victims. They were very thankful that so many people came from all over the U.S. just to help them.
Scariest moment?
The possibility of running out of gas, because we didn't know what stations (if any) would be standing in the areas we were going to service. We sometimes drove over an hour-and-a-half away from Red Cross headquarters. Many gas stations had also run out of gas.
Would you do it again?
Yes, definitely.
Do you volunteer regularly?
This is my first time volunteering with the Red Cross. I regularly do other volunteer work locally.
Anything else you'd like to share about the experience?
Thankfully, I had the opportunity to make some lifelong connections with other volunteers that I would've never had the chance to meet.