Myrtle Beach Red Cross volunteers help Haitian evacuees in Florida

It’s been more than 2 weeks since that earthquake violently shook the grounds of Haiti. Many Haitians are now flying to the United States to stay with friends and family.

By: WBTW | CountOn2.com
Published: February 01, 2010

It’s been more than 2 weeks since that earthquake violently shook the grounds of Haiti.

Many Haitians are now flying to the United States to stay with friends and family.

The American Red Cross is helping those evacuees.

Bob and Betty Hartman are from Massachusetts.

They have a winter home in Myrtle Beach and are living there until April when they will head back north.

Over the next 10 days, they will be in Florida helping Haitians that are evacuating to the United States.

The Hartman’s were psychologists for over 30 years.

When they retired in 2005, they decided to begin volunteering.

“Our professional association was looking for mental health volunteers for psychologists who could go down to New Orleans and help,“ said Bob Hartman.

So the Hartman’s began helping with hurricane Katrina victims.

5 years later, they’re still volunteering, packing for a trip to Florida to help with the mental and emotional issues of Haitian evacuees.

“These people have been through huge trauma and they’re all going to have significant emotional issues to manage,” said Betty. “Whether they can manage them on their own, some people are more resilient than others, and we need them to know what to look for, how to know if they’re okay, how to know if their children are okay, and how to get help if they’re not,“ she said.

The Hartman’s went through disaster training with the Myrtle Beach Red Cross.

The Red Cross says no matter what skills you have, there’s a place for everyone to volunteer.

“Some people want to do more physical work, some people want to answer telephones, and some people want to be counselors,” said Angela Nicholas, Red Cross CEO. “So there are many many opportunities to volunteer.“

“I think we all know we want to do something, and I think we’ve seen all throughout our country to number of people trying to do something,” said Betty. “This is just our something, but there’s thousands of different something’s out there.“

People interested in volunteering with the Red Cross can call their offices.

The Hartman’s will also be teaching a disaster class at the Red Cross in Myrtle Beach.

The phone number to sign up for either of these classes is (843)-477-0020.