SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) — A local team of Red Cross volunteers deployed to Florida to assist with Hurricane Irma relief has arrived in Tallahassee.
Volunteers Mike Criscuelo and Ken Hansen headed out to Florida in an emergency response vehicle with hopes of arriving before Irma made landfall in the state. They expect to be there for nearly 3 weeks delivering food and water.
"As people get back into their homes to clean up, we'll make sure that we do, what's called 'mobile feeding,'" said Victor Roosen of the American Red Cross. "We drive neighborhoods to make sure people have something to eat and comfort and we'll have our emotional-health folks and nurses with this vehicle as well, so they can do outreach and make sure people are taken care of."
The mobile unit passed final inspection at a staging area after its four-day, 2,574-mile trip and is awaiting assignment from Tallahassee's Red Cross headquarters.
Ken Hansen has volunteered to help after several hurricanes, so he knows it's a lot of work. But he says it's also very rewarding, because their efforts are appreciated.
"[It] should be windy when we get there... rainy, but that's good," said Hansen. "You get there at the start of things [and] get the most done."
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