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Called to serve

Local woman among Red Cross volunteers in Texas

Jonie Smitley, left, has been on national and international mission and disaster relief trips since at least 2013.

Jonie Smitley, of Warren County, is in Texas.

San Antonio, to be exact. Although she was supposed to be in Houston today, Smitley flew out of Erie International Airport Monday morning after her Sunday evening flight to Houston was canceled.

Now at the shelter in San Antonio, Smitley said the expectation is that many people will show up for food, medical care, and sanctuary during Tropical Storm Harvey, which has been battering the Gulf Coast of Texas since Friday.

Between her volunteer career with the American Red Cross, with whom she’s currently in Texas, and Samaritan’s Purse, Smitley said she’s been to eight different countries more than once. Most recently, she’s been to Mosul, Iraq, to provide war relief. She’s also served as a volunteer in Ecuador and Nicaragua, among others.

From a young age, Smitley said she’s felt “called to serve.” At around the age of six Smitley said she remembers coming up on a fatal accident and seeing the person who had died covered with a sheet at the scene.

Unlike everyone else, who felt compelled to look away, Smitley said she felt pulled from deep within herself to help.

The registered nurse and wife of a pastor with three children of her own — ages 15, 14, and 12 — said that she’s supported in her efforts to help. “They’re all back there rooting for me,” she said of her family, adding that it’s never fun to see her go but that her family takes comfort in the knowledge that she’s providing comfort and support for those in great need.

And while each disaster has its own unique feel, said Smitley, the current situation in Texas is significant. Unlike most disasters, the ongoing nature of the events unfolding in Texas are just that — ongoing and unfolding. Those are two uncommon traits of disaster relief, where the event usually happens and is over within the day, the efforts to rebuild immediate and relatively swift.

The situation in Texas, said Smitley, feels more like other situations she’s provided relief for — namely war and epidemic. “It’s so wide-scaled,” said Smitley. “There are so many cities and so many people in need and there continue to be more.”

But she is encouraged and excited to start helping. Smitley said that as of Monday she was expected to be helping with feeding and sheltering efforts, but with training as a rescue vehicle driver through the Red Cross, she may wind up heading into the hardest hit areas to find those people herself.

“It all just depends on who is here with what training,” said Smitley. She said that she is happy to be doing the work that “God called me” to do. “It’s heartbreaking to see people still struggling through” the effects of the storm. But she will see this deployment through as she has all her others, she said, with a spirit of service.

Smitley is one of two Warren County Red Cross volunteers to have been deployed to Texas as of Monday and one of 32 Red Cross volunteers in Texas from the Red Cross’ 28-county region of Western Pennsylvania. The Red Cross has also sent three of its emergency response vehicles, said Dan Tobin, Director of Marketing and Communications for the American Red Cross Western Pennsylvania Region.

Deployments typically last two to three weeks, and volunteers will then be rotated so that those presently serving can return home. “Our volunteers will make a huge impact to those who have been displaced by the hurricane and flood waters,” said Tobin. “First and foremost, they will be making sure people have a safe place to sleep. Other teams will assist with mass feeding and the bulk distribution of recovery items.”

There are even volunteers who specialize in mental health and who will be in the area helping people cope with the situation, said Tobin. Anyone who would like more information about the “extremely rewarding” volunteer opportunities at the Red Cross can visit redcross.org.

Anyone interested in making a donation to support disaster relief is also encouraged to visit redcross.org.

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