MOLINE, Ill. — The American Red Cross of the Quad Cities and Northwest Illinois is searching for local volunteers to make the trip to Florida to support Hurricane Milton relief efforts.
Red Cross officials estimate that about 65 volunteers from Illinois have made the drive southeast to help out with Hurricane Helene, and eight of them were from the Quad Cities. But as Milton's landfalls loom, the Red Cross is asking for additional help.
"We just got through Helene, and now people are shifting their focus to Milton," Jayce Eustice with the Red Cross of the Quad Cities said.
Eustice said dozens of volunteers have been sent more than 20 hours away to support residents impacted by severe weather. Those volunteers are walking away from their own lives to help others.
"People take time away from their friends, their family, in a lot of cases, their work as well, and they just realize that there's people in our country that need them right now," Eustice said.
Those volunteers often hit the ground running.
"When they find out they're deploying, it's a pretty quick turnaround. Usually it's about 24 hours or so we ask, 'hey, can you take off in these next 24 hours and head down there,'" Eustice said.
For families receiving help from organizations like the Red Cross, the lifelines being offered can mean the world.
"You're there representing hope, really," Eustice said. "There to help people hand out free food, free water, free supplies, help them clean up, damage assessment, things like that where they're really just a lot of the times there for people and families on their darkest days."
Anyone interested in volunteering can contact the Red Cross here. If you'd like to help but can't head down south, you're encouraged to donate blood, which officials said is in high demand.
Red Cross officials said volunteers have been deployed to Florida, the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee.