Atlantic Red Cross volunteers join hurricane relief effort in Texas

For the second time in three years, disaster response

volunteers from the Canadian Red Cross in Atlantic Canada are heading to the U.S. Gulf Coast to help their American counterparts with hurricane relief efforts and a Berwick man is part of the team.

Nine Canadians, including six from the Atlantic provinces, are heading to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. They will help operate Red Cross shelters for thousands of people who remain evacuated from homes along the Texas

coast due to extensive flooding and property damage inflicted by hurricane Ike last weekend.

"When our colleagues in the American Red Cross asked for assistance, dozens of our most experienced volunteers stepped forward immediately," said John Byrne, general manager of the Canadian Red Cross in Atlantic Canada. "The six who have been selected initially all have previous experience working alongside the American Red Cross, especially following hurricane Katrina in 2005, and all of them are fully qualified for the work they'll be doing as supervisors or staff in mass-care

shelters, feeding centres or providing logistics support."

The group includes the husband and wife team of Desmond and Jean Dillon of Gander, NL; Sandy Miller of Hammonds Plains, NS; David Arsenault of Halifax; Lewis Silver of Berwick, NS; and Charles Newman of the Fredericton area community of Richibucto Road. Three others being

deployed to Texas by the Canadian Red Cross are from Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.

Those from the Halifax area leave for Texas on flights early today. Others will depart later in the day or early Friday.

Byrne said dispatching experienced volunteers is not the only assistance being provided by the Canadian Red Cross.

"In less than a month, three powerful hurricanes have left a trail of destruction including hundreds of deaths, thousands of injuries and millions of people displaced from their homes, farms and businesses, with their belongings destroyed and their livelihoods disrupted in

island countries across the Caribbean and along the U.S. Gulf coast," said Byrne. "So in addition to directly sending disaster volunteers, the Canadian Red Cross is urging Canadians to generously support relief operations with financial donations."

Canadians wishing to donate may do so securely online by credit card at www.redcross.ca or by calling toll-free 1-800-418-1111. Donations by cash or cheque can also be made in-person at any Red Cross office.