Two sisters from Chester County recently returned from 11 days of volunteer service with the Red Cross in Montgomery, Ala. Jeanette Thomas of First Baptist Church, Lowrys, and Diane Sisk of Westside Baptist Church, Chester, both felt the need to reach out in some small way to help restore the lives of victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Sisters – Jeanette Thomas, left, and her sister, Diane Sisk.Sisk remembers the date of Aug. 29, when the category 5 hurricane lashed the Gulf Coast, creating havoc that ravished and changed the lives of those in its path. Driving back to Chester from the beach, Sisk listened to CNN reports and was overcome by what she heard. She was flooded with tears as she realized the suffering the people must have felt. She felt the pain of many families who were hurting from the loss of homes, the separation of family members, and the deaths of loved ones.
On the way home, she and her husband “Sisko” stopped for lunch in Darlington, and she wept as she shared with him about her deep need to volunteer in the Gulf Coast area.
“I knew we could have sent money, but I wanted to do more. I wanted to give of myself,” said Sisk.
Sisko supported her decision, and as they continued the drive home, Sisk called her sister, Jeanette Thomas, by cell phone to ask if she would like to go. Without hesitation, Thomas answered “yes.” The number of people left without a place to stay or any necessities to live a normal life had touched her heart, too.
The sisters contacted the local Red Cross to let them know they were willing to serve. Both were hoping to work on the site of the destruction, but no assignments were being made in the area at the time of their arrival.
Their first assignment was to report to a Red Cross headquarters that was based in a large K-Mart building, where around 1,500 to 2,000 people were working. They began their volunteer service by working in an assembly line to fill backpacks with care packs and load them into coolers for delivery.
Their next assignment was in the canteen inside the building. They worked long, 10-hour days, but the two did not mind preparing food and drinks or cleaning or scrubbing floors, as hard work was not new to them.
However, they were disappointed over not having an opportunity to serve directly in an area of destruction. On the Friday before returning home, they drove to Biloxi, Miss. They wore their Red Cross vests and were allowed to move about the area. Both cried at the devastation they saw – homes reduced to piles of splinters and rubble.
They heard stories firsthand that made their own personal problems seem small: stories of families floating in deep water, fighting for survival, after being swept from their homes.
One story they heard was of a lone 5-year-old boy who wandered up to a truck that was distributing food. He told the workers that it was his birthday, and when they asked about his family, the boy responded that he didn’t know where they were. They decorated a small cake with candy, sang “Happy Birthday,” and gave him some treats.
“We complain about things so small, yet these people who have lost everything are relying on faith to give them strength to just move on,” said Thomas.
Thomas and Sisk, who both plan to take First Aid and CPR courses in January, feel a deep commitment to continue to serve when needed, and they both would like to return soon to the coastal area to assist with disaster relief efforts again.