American Red Cross in Greater New York Helps
Families Affected by Hurricanes

When a slew of hurricanes devastated much of the southeastern United States in August and September, the American Red Cross in Greater New York (ARC/GNY) responded with the largest mobilization in our 123-year history. We provided food, clothing, shelter, psychological support and other essential services to hundreds of thousands of people. ARC/GNY sent many of our own disaster workers and volunteers down to help at shelters, move needed supplies and support the affected residents in a variety of ways.

Justine Cunningham was one of them.  “I think the most moving part of my experience was how all of us – fundraisers, relief workers, volunteers operating the phones, management staff, Jose the parking lot attendant – all came together as a team and helped others in a real spirit of community,” she said.

The massive relief effort included opening more than 1,500 shelters, housing nearly 400,000 people and serving more than 10 million meals with the help of more than 25,000 Red Cross volunteers and staff from across the nation. “This operation is the most extensive since 9/11 and the largest hurricane disaster response since Hurricane Andrew in 1992,” said Theresa Bischoff, CEO of the American Red Cross in Greater New York.

In addition, ARC/GNY conducted more than 200 successful searches for relatives of New Yorkers who could not reach loved ones due to disruptions by the hurricanes. 

The unprecedented response - estimated to cost more than $80 million - was a serious challenge to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which had been dangerously low before the hurricanes. 

In the Eye of the Storm

How a New York City Firefighter Helped Victims of the Florida Hurricanes

By Mike Mondello 

On a bright blue sunny day in New York, as Hurricane Frances threatened Florida, I took a plane to Orlando with seven other retired New York City firefighters to be part of what would be the largest Red Cross mobilization in response to a natural disaster in the organization's history.

We were all members of the Disaster Assistance Response Team (D.A.R.T.), a unique organization of active and former firefighter volunteers who give back to community in a special way - especially after September 11, 2001.

I had gone to other hurricane relief efforts for the Red Cross before in Alabama and Louisiana, but I could not have anticipated what we found and the huge task that was before us.

The hurricane was so large and threatened so much of Florida that the Red Cross had set up hundreds of shelters throughout the state. My job, along with my fellow firefighters, was to help the nerve center of the operation – the logistical support.  We took care of baby food, diapers, First Aid supplies, water, batteries and all other essentials that the Red Cross needed to help some 400,000 people across the state. Time was the key factor and the weather was a key obstacle.  Without these supplies, the whole Red Cross response was endangered.   

Throughout pouring rain and terrible driving conditions, our team drove thousands of miles and loaded and unloaded tons of supplies. The experience was full of difficult and demanding 12-hour days where we lived only on coffee and a few snacks. And, as weather reports worsened and new shelters were opened, we had to rush these supplies to different communities. In between all of this, we tried to help whoever we could. We assisted an elderly couple who lived in a mobile home whose roof had been leaking for two weeks from damage done by Hurricane Charley, and they were worried that the rain and wind from the next hurricane would tear the roof off their home.

But it was an extraordinary experience as well. This response, like the September 11, 2001 response when all eight of us responded to the attacks on the towers, brought out the best in people. We had managers from the local Home Depot and Lowe's willingly donate many crucial hand trucks to load the supplies, the Florida Highway Department officials waved us through all toll booths, and the thousands of volunteers from across the country and especially Canada were incredible. There were no complaints - we were there to do a job, and that was to help the Red Cross effectively and compassionately assist as many people as possible.

On the third anniversary of September 11, 2001, the staff at the Orlando headquarters held a brief, elegant ceremony to commemorate those who died and to honor the D.A.R.T. team and as well as brother firefighters, police officers and others who gave their lives so heroically on that tragic day.

During my assignment I found that my Red Cross training was very useful, as were my 20 years as a firefighter.  The years of training, discipline and hard physical labor were essential to a quick response.

Finally, firefighters are always trained to work as a team – rely on the man in front of you, behind you or next to you - and the eight of us acted as a team during this response.

But the remarkable feeling was that the whole organization - thousands of volunteers from across the U.S. and Canada of all ages, races and backgrounds acted as a team - and came with the same spirit of helping others. Saying goodbye to people who had been strangers only three weeks earlier was much harder than I thought it would be.

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