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MN Red Cross volunteers help amid CA wildfires
Minnesota American Red Cross Volunteers are helping as the California wildfires continue on. FOX 9's Leon Purvis has more.
(FOX 9) - With the wildfires continuing to burn in Southern California, the American Red Cross has sent more than 300 volunteers to help with relief efforts, 19 of them from the Minnesota and Dakotas regions.
Volunteers on the ground
What they're saying:
FOX 9 spoke with a Plymouth man who is helping out as he’s in between jobs. He’s been volunteering with the American Red Cross since 2016, and he says this is the best he’s seen in humanity.
"It's devastating," said Jag Singh, an American Red Cross volunteer.
Singh drove past the utter devastation, and it took a toll on him emotionally.
"I want you to imagine you wake up, and you're making eggs in your home, a home of 40 years, where you've grown up. That night, that home is gone," said Singh.
Local perspective:
Singh got to California on Thursday, and he will be on the ground for two weeks helping one family at a time.
"These are people you see a house burning, what you don't see is the people in the house, and it's all about the people," said Singh.
Singh is assigned to a disaster shelter. He makes sure those who lost everything have what they need to live day to day.
"We make sure that people have a safe place to stay, we make sure they are comfortable, we make sure they are fed," said Singh.
The best in humanity
What they're seeing:
Singh works from six at night to six in the morning. He tells FOX 9, that despite people losing everything, they still get up at 4 am, to grab breakfast and coffee to go to work.
"Very early morning, you see people lining up, getting ready, and that's the power of the human spirit. You don't get to see it every day. Then you see so many people, so resilient, so strong," said Singh.
When he talks to people in the disaster shelter, the conversations are about what really matters.
"I don't remember anybody, anyone talking about things. It's all about the memories or all the things that they did in the neighborhood," said Singh.
Singh adds, he has seen people in the worst days of their lives, but also, the best possible way of what makes humanity great. He is certainly doing his part.