By Jamie Raichel, Executive Director Upstate Chapter

On Thursday, September 26th, 2024—the day Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida—I put on my raincoat and Red Cross rainboots and headed out in the windy downpour that had already started. I visited our Red Cross evacuation shelter at Crosswell First Baptist in Greenville where trained and ready Red Cross volunteers and DSS partners were waiting to take care of folks who needed a safe place to ride out the storm. We chatted and speculated about the storm’s severity and then I headed home to hunker down. 

Initially, I felt Red Cross Ready with my supplies, go bag, and emergency plan. Even when the power went out, I wasn’t too concerned until I started hearing trees cracking, breaking and falling around the neighborhood. By Friday afternoon, I definitely was not prepared for what looked like an apocalyptic movie just outside my front door. 

It was sometime on Saturday before I could safely get to the chapter office where, thankfully, we never lost power. It looked like every local Red Crosser who could make it in was there. In fact, over 100 volunteers from South Carolina raised their hands and helped in our responses to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, some having experienced significant damage to their homes but chose to help others in the moment. Prepositioned Red Crossers from across the country were here, too, starting the process of transitioning to post-storm shelters and coordinating the distribution of food and emergency supplies. 

The Greenville office quickly became a major hub for much of our Red Cross disaster response operations in South Carolina while also supporting some of the Western North Carolina operations. Hundreds of volunteers, yes hundreds, from all over the US, poured through our front doors where our local Upstate volunteers welcomed them with open arms, briefing them on everything important and helping them get settled in their assignments.  

As we worked to prepare a staff shelter, our local offices became temporary lodging with volunteers setting up cots and sleeping on site. I, too, chose to sleep at the office, for almost a week. Through those first weeks, there were at least 30 people staying at “Hotel Red Cross” at 940 Grove Road in Greenville. 

The Red Cross is blessed to have strong partners who share our humanitarian mission. Alongside and with the help of local government and emergency management, schools, churches, businesses, and of course our dedicated nonprofit community, across South Carolina we were able to: 

• Serve 1,512 residents impacted 

• Provide nearly 2,200 overnight stays for people seeking refuge after the storm 

• Serve more than 377,000 meals and snacks to those in need 

• Provide emergency relief items, including clean up kits, water, and other supplies, delivering over 43,000 emergency supplies to South Carolina communities 

As I look back over the past year, I am filled with gratitude. I’m grateful for our volunteers who make up 90% of our Red Cross workforce and for our partners who graciously gave all in their work to help take care of our community. I’m especially grateful for our incredibly generous donors from across our state and around the country who not only made it possible for Red Cross to take care of folks during Helene, but to also provide longer term assistance to help families and neighborhoods fully recover.   

I continue to be inspired by the strength and resiliency of our communities. It will take time, but we can fully restore, grow, and become better together.