• Jennifer Winstead, volunteer
• Janet Winstead
• Truth Seekers Sunday School class at Chesnee First Baptist Church
• Spartanburg Dermatology
• Maria Pirraglia, volunteer & Catholic Student Association at USC-Upstate
• West View Church

…Comfort Kits provide personal hygiene products to both adults and children, whose homes have been destroyed or heavily damaged by fire or natural disasters, such as tornados.

“The last thing you are going to think about are a toothbrush and soap when you’ve lost everything,” Kelly Stafford, Director of Emergency Community Services, said.  “But when you get a Comfort Kit, you can say, ‘I may not have anything else, but at least I feel clean.’ And that is so important.”

Groups find out about the chapter’s need for kits mostly through word of mouth.  Jennifer Winstead is a volunteer who passed the word along to her mother, Janet.

“I knew this was a really worthwhile project, easy to do and inexpensive,” Janet explained.  “There’s need for it really year around, but particularly this time of year because of the storms.”  Janet knows the importance of the need personally.  The home of an aunt was destroyed in 1994 when a tornado ripped through the community of Arrowood.  The houses of two other aunts were damaged.  So Janet passed the word to her Truth Seekers Sunday School class at Chesnee First Baptist Church and to employees of Spartanburg Dermatology, where she works in the insurance department.

…Comfort Kits are also donated as a simple way of saying “thank you.”  A victim of a recent house fire related the importance of the kit she received to fellow members at West View Church.  At least forty kits were assembled by the congregation and delivered.

The chapter provides kits for every member of a family involved in a disaster.  Kits are even placed on each cot or bed when shelters are opened during larger disasters.

“When we receive kits [through donations], we really appreciate them,” Kelly said, “because if we don’t get them, we have to purchase them ourselves.”

[excerpts from May's Newsletter article "What's in a kit?  A WHOLE lot of Comfort" by Liz Williams]

When future disasters strike, volunteer and Roebuck resident Robert Russell is packed and ready to respond.  In fact, as a DAT member who specializes in damage assessment, he keeps a suitcase fully equipped with everything he needs to leave at the drop of a hat.  His Red Cross jumpsuit even stays in his car at all times.  Robert’s enthusiasm is just one of the reasons he has been named May Volunteer of the Month.

“From the very moment that I met him,” Amy Foreman, Volunteer Coordinator, recounted, “he was really eager to help.”

Robert began volunteering for the organization back in 1965 and is the proud owner of a 30-year Red Cross anniversary pin.  In those three decades, his volunteer resume is impressive.  He has aided victims of disasters in Ft. Smith, AR; Gulfport, MS; Puerto Rico; and the US Virgin Islands.  The only reason he was not involved in the relief effort after Hurricane Hugo is because he was recovering from injuries he sustained in a traffic accident.

But Robert was forced to leave in the late 1990s when his wife became ill.  He returned after she passed away January 27 of this year.  He explained why he came back so soon.

“My doctor said, ‘Robert, find something you love to do and get back in it.  You’re not yourself’.”

Most recently, Robert joined six other volunteers in Abbeville to help in the aftermath of April’s F2 tornado.  His speciality is damage assessment, and he refers to it as his calling.  But there are other reasons he decided to come back as well.

“When I was in St. Thomas, he recalled, “there was a lady down there who said the local authorities were giving her the run around.  When I helped her, she threw her arms around me and said ‘thank God.  There are people out there to help me’.”

“When you get that warm-satisfaction feeling,” Robert added, “you think, this is why I am doing this-this one case.”

Written by Liz Williams, volunteer