As the latest hurricane hurtles toward the Gulf Coast, Iowans are preparing to lend another helping hand. Alan McKean is the director of the Hawkeye Chapter of the American Red Cross in Waterloo which has volunteers on the way. He says the chapter has sent out more than 20 volunteers and is getting ready to send out more as the Red Cross is asking for 40-thousand volunteers nationwide. McKean says the volunteers are prepped and ready to go when the call comes in. He says there’s a minimum of three courses they have to take to be qualified as a volunteer. He says they have to be screened before they go out and the real stress comes in that pre-training and screening. McKean believes his organization has done a good job with all the things they’ve faced. He says with the four major hurricanes last year, the tsunami, the wildfires and other things along with the hurricanes this year, he says the organization has been stretched. He says why they’re continuing to recruit volunteers for what he calls an extraordinary year. McKean says the one positive about all the disasters has been the outpouring of support.
