Storm devastates Gulf.

Byline: The Register-Guard

At least 20 volunteers from the local chapter of the American Red Cross will soon be on their way to join a massive effort to feed and shelter victims displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

"This is the largest mobilization for the American Red Cross in the history of the organization in response to a single event," said Jenny Carrick, community relations director for the Oregon Pacific Chapter.

Personnel and equipment are massing in Houston, Texas, to move into the disaster zone created by the massive hurricane. The effort is akin to setting up a major corporation in one day, Carrick said.

The effort also will put a heavy drain on the group's disaster relief fund in a year already marked by hurricane, tornado, wildfire and flood events around the country, she added.

Already, more than 200 Red Cross shelters are housing thousands of residents who fled their homes. Within days, the Red Cross will deploy 25 mobile kitchens capable of serving 20,000 meals per day and another 10 mobile kitchens that are able to serve 200,000 meals in a single day, Carrick said.

The local Red Cross - which serves Benton, Coos, Curry, Douglas, Lane, Lincoln and Linn counties - has already dispatched 10 highly trained volunteers to the Gulf Coast. Among them are: Susan Gleason of Springfield, Pat and Ruthann Irish of Lincoln City, Gailord Hamit and John Moser of Eugene, Curtis Brown of Cheshire, and Karen Dagenais and Terry Bangs of Brookings. Two others, Jack King of Lebanon and Chris Ivins of Eugene, left Saturday with equipment for the relief effort.

The Red Cross plans to have 2,000 volunteers on the scene within three days, Carrick said.

RED CROSS AID:

American Red Cross volunteers are marshaling their biggest ever disaster response to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. The American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund depends on public donations to supply food, shelter and counseling to victims.

What: Disaster relief for Hurricane Katrina victims.

How to help: Financial donations may be sent to the Oregon Pacific chapter at 862 Bethel Drive, Eugene, OR 97402. Secure online contributions can be made at www.oregon pacific.redcross.org. Donors may specify that the money go to Hurricane Katrina victims. They also may earmark donations for the national disaster relief fund, which would allow the Red Cross to divert any funds not needed in the aftermath of Katrina to victims of other national disasters.

More information: Local Red Cross office: 344-5244 or [phone].

- American Red Cross