"I wanted to be truly helpful and serve in an area where people are directly impacted.” With those words, Amy McIntyre of Manhattan Beach sums up how she and other Los Angeles area residents feel.    

McIntyre, whose community was spared the effects of the fires, is now supporting the Red Cross as a temporary volunteer. 

On her first day, McIntyre served as a greeter at a shelter. She found herself answering lots of questions. “Where can I get some coffee? Where can I get some chips? 
What's going on with the showers?”  

Noa Goldsmith, a recent college graduate living at home in Culver City, also spent her first day helping at a shelter.  

“When you're sitting back and just watching things happen, there's a sense of guilt, I think, and so doing boots-on-the-ground work and really helping, it feels good.”  

Thousands of Los Angeles-area residents applied to volunteer in just the first week of the wildfires, says Veronique Royer, who’s managing the temporary volunteer program for this relief response. Every day, as many as 200 are on the job under the direction of fully trained volunteers.  

“They can greet people, work at a shelter, work at a warehouse. They can drive people from one site to another if they have a driver’s license. They can distribute meals and emergency supplies.”  

Another who stepped up is Kyle Kraska, sports director for FOX11. He and his wife were packed and ready to evacuate when the fires bypassed their community. He decided to put on the grey vest.   

“When disaster strikes in my hometown, when I've seen that massive destruction, I immediately reached out to the Red Cross and just said, how can I help? What can I do?”  

The temporary volunteer program is a “win-win” that adds to the disaster workforce when needed, and also gives people a taste of service for the next emergency. 

Amy doesn’t know if she’ll sign up for the long-term. But for now she’s excited to try new roles. 

“Tomorrow, I'm going to be a canteen worker serving lunch and drinks to volunteers at Red Cross headquarters. That'll be fun, too.”  

If you live in the Greater Los Angeles region and would like to volunteer with the Red Cross, please use this application link.