By Darrell Fuller, American Red Cross volunteer
“It could have been us.” But it wasn’t, so Jason Garrison is stepping up to help those for whom Hurricane Ian was a personal disaster.
Garrison, whose home in Fort Myers was far enough inland to not suffer catastrophic damage from Hurricane Ian, couldn’t sit idly while hundreds of American Red Cross disaster responders rushed to Florida to help his neighbors whose lives were upended. “It could have been us,” he said.
Four days after the Category 4 storm swept across the Sunshine State, Garrison turned to an organization that he knew was on duty.
“I just showed up here at the (Red Cross shelter in Hertz) arena and asked if there was something I could do,” he said.
Garrison is what the Red Cross calls a disaster event-based volunteer. Although not trained in the protocols of how the Red Cross provides shelter, food and other relief, these spontaneous workers are screened and then plugged into any number of tasks that make an operation run.
“Disaster event-based volunteers are a key resource to the Red Cross,” said Jessica Tate, who came from Portland, Ore., to manage the local recruits. “Their local knowledge and resourcefulness can really make a difference in our response.
“People want to help when their community is hit by a natural disaster,” she explained. “When they see their neighbors in trouble, they step up. And it can help the volunteers process what they are feeling as part of the impacted community.”
These spontaneous volunteers have already worked 425 shifts during the Hurricane Ian response.
“They are working in shelters, like Jason. They are helping us with feeding. They are filling orders in our warehouses, and as part of our Distribution of Emergency Services teams,” Tate said.
“I’m a utility player,” Garrison agreed. “I do whatever they need me to do. I’m hoping to get trained to help with driving ERVs (mobile food delivery vehicles). Going out and helping people who need something to eat would be great.”
There’s no assignment too small for the 39-year-old U.S. Army veteran. One day he helped an elderly shelter resident go retrieve clothes from home. “She only had the clothes on her back when she evacuated,” he said, adding, “Then we got some of her favorite ice cream – butter pecan!”
“Jason has been such a great help,” Katelyn Dzialowy, his supervisor, said. “He’s part of our team. He just pitches in and does what needs to be done.”
Meanwhile, Garrison’s wife, Desha, is stepping up too. She is a hair stylist with HQ Men’s Haircuts, and the staff there has been giving free haircuts to both men and women at Hertz Arena, the largest evacuation shelter in Florida.
Garrison has found that he likes volunteering. And, for the time being at least, he can’t work.
“I run a kayaking tour business called Southwest Florida Shelling, and right now they’re not letting any commercial traffic on waterways. That shuts me down. People can still kayak, but I can’t go with them,” he said.
“So this is what I do for now and I’m glad Red Cross gave me an opportunity to help make a difference.”
American Red Cross relief is free to anyone with disaster-caused needs, thanks to the generosity of the American people. If you would like to support this humanitarian effort financially, visit redcross.org, text the words REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation, or call 1-800-HELP NOW. To become a trained disaster volunteer, visit redcross.org/volunteer or call 1-800-REDCROSS.