By Darrell Fuller, American Red Cross volunteer

Have you ever played the license plate game to pass time when traveling with children? It's simple ... spot the states of origin of passing cars and the passenger with the most states wins.

When the American Red Cross responds to a major disaster, the "game" takes on new meaning. Volunteers respond from across the country, many of them driving the iconic Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicles (ERVs). 

In Florida, for the response to Hurricane Ian, nearly 150 ERVs were on the ground at one time. Each ERV can be stocked with enough food to serve more than 200 meals. The ERVs load up twice daily at partner kitchens and fan out across the disaster zone to feed people in need. At one point, the Red Cross was serving more than 20,000 meals a day.

When power is out and potable water isn’t available, people impacted by the storm simply can’t cook for themselves at home – if they still have one. Restaurants are equally constrained. Stores are closed and boarded up.

So, Red Cross responders – two to each ERV – provide feeding services where they are needed most, in communities across the path of the hurricane. 

Each ERV is assigned to a kitchen. The vehicles are never all in one place. But if they were, your hand might get cramped just from writing down all the states from which they came. One day in Fort Myers, one kitchen had two dozen ERVs from at least 15 different states.

ERVs are often dispatched from their home chapters – where they respond to local disasters – before a predicted disaster like a hurricane strikes. They stay as long as needed, with the staff rotating every couple of weeks. When the needs have been met, volunteers begin driving them back to their home states.

Responding to natural disasters, especially those as large as Hurricane Ian, takes a lot of volunteers, a lot of ERVs and a lot of box trucks, for distribution of emergency supplies. Plus dedicated volunteer trained in logistics to track and maintain the vehicles, shelters, and warehouse space needed to respond to the needs of impacted communities.

To learn more about volunteering with the American Red Cross, go to RedCross.org or call 800-REDCROSS.