American Red Cross Helps in Wake of Virginia Tech Disaster

Many people have come to associate the American Red Cross with helping out in the wake of natural disasters, but after the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech, the Red Cross took on another area of disaster relief.

When news of the shootings got out, the Montgomery-Floyd Chapter of the American Red Cross in Blacksburg, Va., responded immediately. Counselors and spiritual care workers with Red Cross training, worked with university and community mental health professionals, comforting students, teachers, and staff devastated by the event.

The Roanoke Valley Red Cross took the initiative and mobilized their disaster response teams on April 17, the day after the shootings. Volunteers from the Greater New River Valley Chapter were also recruited to help.

Grief stricken family and friends arriving from all parts of the country and all over the world, took shuttles provided by these two Chapters from the airport to the university. Licensed mental health workers from Blue Ridge Behavioral Health Care were placed on each shuttle to comfort and counsel family and friends of the victims. These Chapters also stood ready with directions to the campus, hotels, and to the four area hospitals where loved ones might have been transported.

The response from volunteers looking to lend a hand was overwhelming and much appreciated. On behalf of the Cortland County Chapter of the American Red Cross, we express our condolences to those who lost friends and family members in the fatal shootings at Virginia Tech. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.