Coalition of the willing

Red Cross volunteers stand ever ready to help comfort and shelter disaster victims across the state or around the globe

Whether a dam breach or a house fire, the Red Cross stands ready to clothe, feed and shelter victims of disasters.

"That was our mandate from Congress," said John Donoghue, chairman of the board of the Red Cross of Montana.

Volunteers from one to hundreds of thousands remain a pager call away. Their resources reach across the country and around the world.

"We are larger than the Red Cross of Montana," Donoghue said.

If an emergency reaches a certain monetary or population impact, the agency declares a national disaster to mobilize many more volunteers, such as the thousands - including Donoghue and his wife, Margie - who responded to Hurricane Katrina.

The Red Cross answers the call to serve on emergency-response teams, often uniting with other agencies for the most efficient service to victims.

"The Salvation Army partners with us in many cases for food and clothing," Donoghue said.

Practice and more practice with other agencies helps the Red Cross work the kinks out of their responses. Practice comes in table-top exercises such as the one sponsored by the agency's Kalispell Service Center: a recent scenario of a huge fire in winter at an elderly housing unit.

"A disaster in winter is a far cry from in July," Donoghue said. "You have to take all these things into consideration."

During the training, participants decided to call in Eagle Transit buses to the scene as a warm haven for fire survivors that then could take them to temporary shelters.

Smaller-scale disasters, such as families burned out of their homes, help keep volunteers motivated. When the county sheriff's dispatcher recently sounded a tone on their pagers, Donoghue and his wife responded to a Martin City house fire.

Within hours, they had the satisfaction of helping the family secure clothing, lodging and food with a Red Cross debit card.

"It's our new client-assistance-card program," he said. "It cuts down on the paperwork."

But the card also allows monetary tracking to provide donors assurance that the Red Cross exercises fiscal responsibility. Donoghue said the Montana agency spends about $2 for each resident in carrying out its mission, which includes preparing people before a disaster.

Donoghue echoes a familiar theme among emergency experts that individuals must shoulder the responsibility to think ahead and prepare. He said people share a misconception that some major government unit will take care of them.

"Our job is to get individuals and individual families excited about preparing," he said.

The Red Cross distributes a brochure that lists three actions people need to take to improve their chances of survival:

. Get a kit.

. Make a plan.

. Be informed.

Each step provides detailed instructions. For instance, the kit includes such recommendations as having cash on hand because credit cards and automated teller machines don't work when the power goes off.

The agency's Web site, www.redcross.org, has more information including an emergency kit available for purchase for those who don't want to build their own.

A family plan begins with choosing two places to meet after a disaster: right outside the home in sudden emergencies, such as fires, and outside the neighborhood in case you can't return home or have to evacuate.

The brochure advises each adult to learn how and when to turn off electricity, water and gas to their home. It suggests having the area fire department demonstrate how to use a fire extinguisher.

People need to learn what disasters or emergencies may occur where they live and how officials will communicate with them during these events, according to the plan. To record information, the brochure contains a clip-out card that people can keep with them.

Donoghue said the Red Cross begins with individuals, often children, to get its life-saving message to families as well as to recruit volunteers. He knows it works from his own life.

"I started in 1941 when I received a letter from Franklin D. Roosevelt," he recalled. "It got me involved in the Junior American Red Cross."

He proudly displayed his Red Cross lapel pin as he worked with other young volunteers, rolling bandages for the wounded during World War II. Donoghue never stopped volunteering after those rewarding childhood experiences.

"You can capture them [children] and get them involved in helping others," he said.

In later years, disaster touched his own life.

Donoghue first lost a substantial part of a business to a flood. Then, he had most of his home in Eastern Washington demolished when a tornado dropped three large trees on it.

"Just to go through that shock, that trauma - unless you've been through it, it's hard to describe," he said.

Because he was prepared with tools and tarps, Donoghue got to work with the help of an army of friends who quickly helped to shore up his home.

He sees the Red Cross of Montana as an organized version of that same concept.

"It's Montanans helping Montanans," he said.

From his perspective as the chairman of the state board, Donoghue said the agency needs more volunteers and higher-level training.

With Montana's population fast approaching a million people, Donoghue and his board face a major challenge in meeting their $2-a-person budget. Needs continue to flood in, while charitable contributions nationwide have slowed to a trickle.

"Nonprofits really struggle to keep their heads above water," he said.

He and the other leaders plan to tackle the problem by solidifying the donor base. Although Flathead industries have generously supported the agency, the Red Cross has not met its statewide goals.

Donoghue envisions endowments and planned giving as potential solutions to make certain the Red Cross of Montana continues to meet its congressional mandate of helping disaster victims for free through community support.

"Montanans seem to enjoy [providing] a legacy," he said.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.