Local Red Cross Volunteer One of Six Hoosiers Chosen for U.S. Virgin Islands Deployment

Posted on September 26, 2017
Author Jacque Ryan, WKVI

A Winamac woman, who recently returned from Texas after spending two weeks assisting the Red Cross with mass care efforts there, is leaving once again – this time to the U.S. Virgin Islands. Sherry Fagner is one of six Indiana volunteers who were chosen to be a part of the jump team that was assembled to be deployed to the area.

When Sherry returned from Texas, she was a little under the weather. However, she said she is feeling better now as she physically, mentally and emotionally prepares for her journey. She leaves today and will spend a day or two in Atlanta, Georgia for staff collection then she will leave from there to the islands.

Sherry said that although she will be using her volunteer experience in similar ways, the conditions she’ll witness will be strikingly different from those affected here in the continental U.S.

“Very austere conditions is what they’re telling us on the islands at the moment.” Sherry explained, “No power, no potable water, airports are still closed. I mean, there’s all kinds of infrastructure issues but they are slowly bringing those back day by day.”

Fagner said that in Texas, the majority of damage was caused by flooding, where as the Virgin Islands saw much more wind damage, resulting in major visible infrastructural devastation. Fagner said often times Americans forget that the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are U.S. territories. Although they may be an ocean away, they’re still a part of our country and Fagner said when you look at it on a human level, there isn’t a difference between a state and a territory.

Sherry will be deployed for three weeks this time around and said she has received broad based orders that could encompass a wide range of issues. Specifically, she was told she’d be working with bulk distribution but orders could change depending on the type of assistance needed on site.

Local Red Cross Volunteer Heading to Houston

Posted on September 1, 2017
Author Jacque Ryan, WKVI

A local woman who volunteered during past natural disasters such as the Henryville Tornado and Hurricane Sandy will be deploying to Houston this weekend to assist the Red Cross with mass care efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Sherry Fagner is a former Incident Management Team member of the District 2 Task Force who now serves as the Lead Disaster Action Team member for Pulaski and Starke Counties. Fagner will be providing assistance in one of the mega centers that has been set up in the Houston area.

Several fellow members of the Indiana District 2 chapter have already been deployed to Texas to assist with Mass Care, which is an umbrella term that covers a plethora of jobs that volunteers could be responsible for once they make it to the mega centers.

“Anything you see on the news that is in a shelter, that’s what we do,” she said “Anything to do with client casework, if there’s immediate needs for people that are in the shelter, could be making sure that cots are set up, could be just about a whole range of items.”

Fagner said that the best advice she has to individuals interested in helping is to make a monetary donation to a nationally recognized charity. Money allows the organization to buy needed supplies right away rather than fishing through donated goods. Sherry’s flight leaves Saturday morning from the airport in South Bend. She will be deployed for two weeks.