ROANOKE, Va. – With dozens of people still unaccounted for following a string of deadly tornados, groups like the American Red Cross are working around the clock to help.
“People drive 11 hours to be part of this response and they’ll join volunteers across the country on in delivering hot meals supporting shelters,” Jonathan McNamara with the Virginia Chapter of the American Red Cross said.
As early as Sunday morning, volunteers from groups across Virginia made the trip to the sight of seemingly endless devastation.
“From a Virginia perspective, as soon as these tornadoes came through, we kind of understood what that was going to mean for the states, we started our preparations on started identifying volunteers that were willing to deploy and support this response,” McNamara said.
For organizations like God’s Pit Crew, it may not be a short trip. Crews are expected to respond to the sites for the next several weeks and even months.
“I feel pretty certain with the magnitude of this disaster that there’ll be some rebuilding efforts in months to come and so there’ll be a lot going on with us trying to help those folks out there,” Randy Johnson with God’s Pit Crew said.
The best way to help these organizations over the next couple of weeks is to donate either money, time or even blood.
“We know that more volunteers probably from the Roanoke and Lynchburg areas will lead to support these operations over the days and weeks to come as these transitions to more of a long-term recovery effort. And we own during the holiday season, this is really challenging time,” McNamara said.
For information on how to donate to God’s Pit Crew click here.
For information on how to donate to the American Red Cross, click here.