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American Red Cross works around the clock to support families during freeze
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BATON ROUGE - While many residents across Louisiana are hunkering down amid icy conditions and freezing temperatures, the American Red Cross is working around the clock to make sure families have the essentials they need to stay safe and warm.
Volunteers and staff are moving supplies, stocking warming centers, and coordinating teams from Baton Rouge to Shreveport.
To prepare for the winter weather, the Red Cross staged resources ahead of time, positioning shelter trailers across the state before conditions worsened.
“We pre-staged shelter trailers, which would have cots and blankets and things of that sort, in all the different parts of the state as best we could, knowing that the weather was coming,” said Vincent Gonzales, who oversees Red Cross operations across Louisiana.
Gonzales says every part of the state is being supported, with teams closely monitoring supply levels and adjusting as needed.
“Any area that was low in supplies, we were trying to get additional trailers in those areas,” he said.
The focus, Gonzales says, is on making sure shelters and warming centers have the essentials to keep people safe and comfortable during the freeze.
“Lots of snacks for all these warming centers,” Gonzales said. “So that’s what we mainly have been doing, is water, snacks, cots and blankets.”
While preparation is a year-round effort, the Red Cross ramps up its inventory when extreme weather is expected. That includes bringing in thousands of cots well before the storm arrived.
“Got a bunch of about 3,000 brought in about a month ago, so we could start putting some in Shreveport, Alexandria,” Gonzales said. “And good thing we did, because we needed them.”
The operation relies heavily on volunteers, who make up the majority of the Red Cross workforce during disasters.
“We have, I think, over 40-something people right now throughout the state, volunteers running the operations,” Gonzales said.
He adds that flexibility and coordination are key, especially when supporting dozens of parishes statewide.
“We’ll have to transfer stuff from the north down to the south because we’ve been spreading them through all the different parishes which we’re supporting, probably more than 30 parishes,” Gonzales said.
Even after supplies are distributed, the work doesn’t stop. Volunteers must restock and prepare for whatever comes next.
“We have to redo our stuff,” Gonzales said. “Once we use it, once we give out the blankets, you know, they’re gone.”
If you’re in need of shelter, you can call 211 for assistance. The American Red Cross says there is an urgent need for volunteers throughout this winter storm. Information on how to become a volunteer can be found here.
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