Volunteers head to scene of disaster.

Byline: Bill Bishop The Register-Guard

As disasters go, longtime American Red Cross relief volunteer Carol Foster has it relatively cushy this time around. She has a hotel room.

Foster, a Florence bookstore owner trained to work for the Red Cross in big national disasters for the past six years, usually finds herself sleeping on an air mattress in a school-turned-emergency shelter when she puts in a three-week stint of disaster relief.

Today Foster is in Rochester, Minn., with 800 other Red Cross volunteers from 25 states providing meals, counseling, referral and other services to families flooded out in the unprecedented downpours of late August. Her specific assignment is administrative support for Red Cross field workers, making sure they have the supplies, meals and transportation they need to do their work.

"It's not a party. It's a disaster," Foster said, speaking by cell phone from a relief center in Rochester. "Everyone I meet here is just doing their very best."

She is among 14 volunteers from the local chapter who have been deployed to help flood victims in five states.

The flurry of disasters is nothing new, local chapter Emergency Services Director Karen Smith said. The Oregon Pacific chapter has sent volunteers to 10 disasters around the nation since June, she said.

But it is an indication of the constant need for volunteers and donations for the effort.

"There are always, constantly, disasters," Smith said.

More than 20 people died in flooding in the Midwest and South in recent days. Thousands of homes and businesses are damaged or destroyed. It is the kind of disaster that makes headlines for a few days, but affects victims for a long time.

"When you get out here, you can see you're doing a lot of good," Foster said. "These people, when you talk to them, their home is not there anymore. Anything you can do for them, you should do."

The Red Cross has opened shelters and has relief crews driving through flooded communities distributing food, clean-up kits and supplies to families, individuals and rescue workers who cannot make it to a shelter or are involved with clean-up efforts.

Licensed Red Cross mental health professionals are helping families and individuals cope with the fear and stress from the trauma of the floods.

Counseling is often one-on-one, on-the-spot in a disaster zone, said Sandra Stenius, a Eugene resident and Red Cross volunteer who began her tour of duty on Thursday in Chicago, where torrential rains flooded some suburbs.

A licensed counselor and former Eugene School District employee, Stenius resolved to travel more and continue helping people after she stopped working full time. The Red Cross was a good fit, she said, speaking by cell phone from a Red Cross relief center in Chicago.

"The place is totally busy, just full of people," she said. "You've got to inhale to walk down the hall."

Working in a disaster or helping people in general helps Stenius regain perspective on personal problems and bigger human issues.

"You get so much from it. It's hard to explain. You get out of yourself, your humdrum self, and see what's really important," she said. "It gives you a completely different perspective. It's incredible how you change as a person and evolve by getting out of your comfort zone. It pushes you."

On Friday, Stenius was transferred to Merrillville, Ind., 35 miles southeast of Chicago, to work in a flooded low-income neighborhood where some had been without power for 15 days. Working on a team of four, she worked door-to-door to help residents deal with the aftermath of flood damage, mold, medical and mental health challenges.

"I've seen conditions that would just shock people," she said.

The Red Cross disaster response is highly organized and continually fine-tuned based on results from the latest efforts, Stenius said. "I've never felt more respect for the Red Cross," she said by cell phone from Merrillville on Friday.

Disaster volunteers are trained in 26 specific job categories to fill positions in disaster teams that come together on a day's notice, Smith said. The Oregon Pacific chapter, which covers seven counties, has 225 volunteers trained for nationwide emergency response. More are needed.

"You name it, we can fit your skills into something," Smith said.

RED CROSS RESPONSE

Trained volunteers from around the country are regularly summoned to serve three weeks in major disaster areas. Others work on local relief efforts, such as helping victims of house fires. The organization depends on donations to provide relief efforts free to victims.

Who: American Red Cross, Oregon Pacific chapter

What: Local and national disaster relief

To help nationally: Donations for national emergencies online at www.redcross.org or by mail to Disaster Relief Fund, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013.

To help locally: Donations for aid in Benton, Coos, Curry, Douglas, Lane, Lincoln and Linn counties online at www.oregonpacific. redcross.org or by mail to 862 Bethel Drive, Eugene, OR 97402

More Information: Nationally, [phone]; locally, 344-5244.

- American Red Cross