Five volunteers left over the weekend for Memphis to shelter flood victims and more are expected to leave this week. Volunteers from the Midland Empire chapter of the Red Cross are serving throughout the south-eastern United States helping disaster victims seek shelter and recover.

Volunteers leave for two weeks at a time. Some of the local volunteers will be returning home this week, Emergency Service Director Karla Long said. “The staff will be getting ready to turn over,” Long said. “So we will be looking to do some replenishment staff into Alabama.”

Currently, local volunteers from Northwest Missouri are in Alabama, Mississippi, Southeast Missouri, North Carolina,Tennessee and Texas. Long calls the Midland Empire Chapter of St Joseph a front runner in volunteering.

“People have had to come here to help us. We all remember the flood of ’93 This is sort of our way to give back. We are one of the front runners in the number of volunteers we tend to send when emergencies happen,” Long said.

Long served in Washington D.C. During the beginning of the severe weather outbreak helping plan emergency services across the disaster area’s.

The Red Cross is also in need of more volunteers. Most volunteers are retiree’s with free time but anyone is allowed to donate their time. Volunteers receive training before they head out to a disaster area.

Volunteer expenses are paid by the Red Cross but volunteers must donate their time to help others. All service deployments last two weeks. For more information contact the Midland Empire Chapter of the American Red Cross. 232-8439.