Red Cross volunteers aid in crisis

(L.-R.) Bill Archuleta from Brookings; Lester Hall, Grants Pass; Barbara Detzel, Redmond; Mark Kelso, Grants Pass; and Oliver Trussel from Bend. photo by Tom Chace

They sleep on cots. They pay their own way. They drive from all over the state to help those in need.

These volunteers are part of the Disaster Relief program of the American Red Cross.

Many think of Red Cross workers rolling bandages or nursing the wounded during wartime. They still do that but now they do much more.

Lester Hall drove to Sisters from Grants Pass when the word went out that Sisters needed help in the face of the B&B Complex Fire.

"In a way we're simply returning the favor when you all from Central Oregon came down our way to help us out during the Biscuit Fire that burned 500,000 acres in Southern Oregon and Northern California last year," he said.

Hall's work has taken him far from Oregon.

"I went over to Guam during that awful typhoon in the winter of 2002," he said.

Ruth Willmon is from Fossil, the "capital" of Wheeler County (population 1,600) and works the midnight-to-8 a.m. shift.

"I was a Spec 6 in Vietnam as an electronics calibrator," she said, "so I am used to roughing it."

The first night here she slept in her car as all the cots were taken.

"The first thing I am going to do when this is over is find a good motel with a good bed," she said. "I left my place on 10 minutes' notice. I keep stuff packed to go when the call comes in that I'm needed."

She has four sons. She has been volunteering for the Red Cross for going on four years.

The kitchen, where this team works, is in the new Community Hall at Sisters Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration. The church members provide help, although a Red Cross kitchen manager does all the actual cooking.

The kitchen manager for this stint was Bill Archuleta from Brookings, Oregon. He was reluctant to talk about himself or his Red Cross job but repeated that, "These church volunteers are fantastic. Jan Baldwin especially got all these people lined up overnight and I just can't say enough about her or them or the fine people also at the Community Church."

He did say that he has been a Red Cross volunteer since 1995 and that he has two children, both University of Oregon graduates. His daughter is a Registered Nurse in Florida and his son is a Second Lieutenant at Andrews Air Force Base.

"Everything in the way of the food we serve is made fresh, from scratch and on the spot," said Archuleta. "We mash our own potatoes, make our cinnamon rolls and cook probably better than at most homes."

For reasons of health protection they are unable to accept outside food donations.

"We can't accept outside food donations," he said, "but we have been given numerous and generous checks. One person left $200 specifically to feed the Camp Sherman evacuees."

The American Red Cross receives no money from any government or governmental agency.

"One hundred percent of our funds come from donations from people all over this country," Archuleta said. "We all share in disaster recovery no matter where it is."

Barbara Detzel, from nearby Redmond, also volunteers with the police department in helping with domestic violence cases.

"My first national experience was a year ago when I flew to Springfield, Missouri, to help in some of the small towns around there following their tornado," she said.

"We handed out vouchers, paid for by the Red Cross, for food and new clothing for those who lost everything. It's amazing the outpouring from all kinds of people who want to help. It brings out the best in us because we want to do good things for other people."

Oliver Trussel was on hand at Sisters Elementary School "within an hour after I got the call at my home in Bend to help with the evacuation of the kids from the camps around Suttle Lake."

He is the "dispersing officer" for the local chapter of the American Red Cross and does the shopping at "as many of your local stores as possible."

His permanent volunteer job is acting as an advocate for elderly people with disabilities.

"I became a Red Cross volunteer in 1989. During 1992," he said, "I was sent to Florida, south of Miami, to volunteer to help those who were hurting after Hurricane Andrew whipped through that part of the state."

Mark Kelso, also from Grants Pass, spent 40 years as a newspaper pressman on such publications as The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Examiner and the Detroit Free Press.

"Now," he says, " when I'm not volunteering for the Red Cross, I'm fishing."

He began his volunteer work two years ago this week (September 15) "right after the 9-11 disaster. I worked as the shelter manager on the Biscuit Fire and I take care of the yard and office at our Red Cross building in Grants Pass."