Red Cross Resource Center Offers Help For Wildfire Victims

Wildfire victims can get help from the Tulsa Area Red Cross in Mannford as residents move forward in the recovery phase, according to a Red Cross Wildfire Response Update on Saturday.

The Red Cross Multi-Agency Resource Center in Mannford is open Saturday and Sunday through 7 p.m. for Creek County wildfire victims.

The resource center and Red Cross shelter are located at the First United Methodist Church, 100 East Greenwood in Mannford.

Volunteers at the resource centers assess the needs of those affected by the wildfires, and connect them with financial, insurance and mental health professionals. They also are giving out some practical tools to assist in the clean up.

"The Red Cross continues to distribute rakes, shovels, sift boxes and dust masks across the affected areas as needed," said Red Cross spokesperson Donita Quesnel.

"More than 300 comfort kits and clean-up items have been distributed to date."

8/10/2012 Related Story: Oklahoma Southern Baptist Relief Helps Out Here At Home

Residents are using sift boxes - open trays made of a wooden frame around wire mesh - to sift through ashes in hopes of finding items like jewelry. Sift boxes were made as a joint project of the Red Cross, the United Way and the Boy Scouts of America.

Statewide, the Red Cross has people in 250 overnight stays, she said. There are also shelter locations in Glencoe and Noble.

"Disaster assessment teams are working out the final numbers of homes and families affected," Quesnel said. Teams are still out in the burned areas doing damage assessments.

"Some areas are still unsafe for our teams to enter thus, the number of affected is still unconfirmed. We know that more than 300 homes across the state have been affected."

The Red Cross and Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma were to hold an ice cream social for victims and volunteers from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the First Methodist Church. The Food Bank donated Porter peaches, and Blue Bell chipped in with vanilla ice cream.

The wildfires destroyed more than 300 homes across the state. The Red Cross says what it needs most now are monetary donations.

How you can help:

Financial donations to Red Cross: www.redcross.org and click make a donation.
Text REDCROSS to 90999 for $10 donation
Call 1-800-REDCROSS