By Rebecca Marshall, American Red Cross volunteer  

One chef, two racecar drivers, and an engineer, all under the age of 13.  That’s what happens when you open a play area for kids at an American Red Cross shelter and let their imaginations run wild. The Hertz Arena is the largest shelter operated by the Red Cross in Florida in response to Hurricane Ian. It is still home to about 450 people, including a lot of children.  

In that shelter is a place where kids can put their worries aside and have fun.  

That play area is being run by Children’s Disaster Services (CDS), which has been working with the Red Cross for more than a decade. The organization provides comfort and support for children and families affected by disasters.

Tom and Linda Cooper have been deploying as part of CDS for almost 20 years. They’ve been married 52 years. After they retired from their teaching jobs in New York, they wanted to help kids, and discovered a way to do so following Hurricane Katrina. They’ve been at it ever since. They are among two groups of volunteers from CDS working in Red Cross shelters in Florida. One group is in Orlando, the other in Fort Myers.  

Tom Cooper says when kids come into the room, they take the lead. The goal is to let them free up their minds and express themselves with play.  

“We don’t tell them what to do.  We let them color, read books, draw, play games and just be a kid.” 
 
Soon after they opened the doors to the playroom at the Red Cross shelter, several children went right for the toys.

Ten year-old Jaydren put on his chef hat and got to work. 

“Do you want some pie?  It’s pudding cream pie.  Here, have some hot tea too.” 

It’s this kind of thing that keeps Tom and Linda Cooper coming back.  They have been deployed to hurricanes Sandy, Katrina, Florence, Irma, Gustav, Ike, and Irma, but Tom says it’s always a new experience.  

“Every disaster is different.” 

One thing that isn’t different is experiencing the disaster in person as opposed to watching it unfold on TV.   

“When you come and see it with your own eyes, it’s really powerful.”