Los Gatos Red Cross Volunteer Helps Tornado Victims

Los Gatan George Smith, a longtime volunteer with the American Red Cross Silicon Valley Chapter, is among more than 50 people from the Bay Area helping with tornado relief efforts in the Southeast, a spokeswoman said.

The volunteers, ranging in age from their early 20s to mid-60s, are concentrating on hard-hit areas in Alabama and Mississippi, with a few volunteers dispatched to cities where the tornadoes first hit in North Carolina, said Melanie Finke, spokeswoman for the Bay Area chapter of the Red Cross.

According to Cynthia Shaw, a spokeswoman for the American Red Cross Silicon Valley Chapter, there are 18 volunteers from Santa Clara County who have already been sent to the south.

Smith is an active member of Mountain Emergency Response Corps. He has functioned in several different capacities, including Disaster Action Team captain, in 10 previous disaster deployments, starting with Hurricane Ivan in 2004, Shaw said.

Three volunteers from the Silicon Valley chapter are affiliated with AmeriCorps, a national service program, and are handling client casework by working directly with those affected and designing a game plan for how to move forward into the recovery phase, said Shaw.

Others are working in technology by managing the data networks or updating the "Safe and Well" section of the Red Cross website, where friends and family members can keep track of loved ones who have been displaced, Shaw said.

Shaw encouraged those who want to volunteer with the Red Cross to visit redcross.org, call Shaw at 408-577-2115, or call Melanie Finke, Red Cross Bay Area chapter, 415-427-8800

—Bay City News Service contributed to this report