Bluegrass Chapter of the American Red Cross set to offer hurricane relief
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - People are flocking to Florida from all over the country to offer relief after Hurricane Ian. David Silver lives in Richmond, but he’s been all across America to respond to major disasters.
“it gives you a good feeling that as old as I am I can still do something”
Silver has worked with the American Red Cross since 1960 and starting Monday, he will continue his work on Florida’s west coast. Silver says he will spend the next two weeks taking his emergency response vehicle on a route through the Fort Myers area, giving out food, water and any other assistance he can offer.
Ian was a storm he narrowly missed getting stuck in the middle of himself.
“I literally came home Tuesday and Wednesday when the storm hit,” said Silver, who serves for the organization’s Bluegrass Chapter. “Our car would have been submerged. There’s nowhere for the water to go [there].”
Silver was celebrating his birthday on Sanibel Island. Less than a week later, he’s returned to offer relief to a region which will look drastically different than how he left it. Even with all the deployments he’s done, he believes this one will hit him harder because of his ties to the area.
“I probably will not believe the devastation I see,” Silver said.
So he hopes to alleviate some of the pain and stress these people are feeling during the weeks he serves there.
“We’re not going to cure anything,” said Silver. “We’re not going to fix anything. We just hope we can make things a little easier.”
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