'The days are long': Red Cross volunteers continue to help displaced Hurricane Ian victims

Red Cross volunteers continue to work around the clock as Southwest Florida passes the one-week mark since Hurricane Ian made landfall, displacing dozens from their homes and demolishing neighborhoods into rubble.

Jill Palmer, executive director at the American Red Cross Florida Gulf Coast to Heartland chapter, said it feels like it all started a very long week ago.

"In just a few short days, we have been working really day and night alongside our partners standing up [with] this disaster response operation to ensure that people have a safe place to be — that they have food and that they have comfort," Palmer said.

More than 1,500 volunteers have deployed into impacted communities across the state. Palmer added hundreds of volunteers are on the ground in Southwest Florida.

Volunteers continue to provide shelter for those who have been evacuated from their homes or aren't able to return.

"We're really focused on that mission of making sure that people have a safe place to be where they can come for food for water," Palmer said. "Even if they don't stay with us. It's still a safe place for them to come."

The Red Cross has over 80 emergency response vehicles working with local mobile kitchens.

Viral cat rescue: Naples man who went viral in hurricane cat rescue now raising funds for displaced pets

'Welcoming, kind': 'He was just a part of so many people's lives': Fort Myers Beach man remembered as welcoming

Hurricane Ian: Naples restaurants re-open

They have three large kitchens across Southwest Florida as of Wednesday — one in Naples and the remaining in Cape Coral and Fort Myers.

"Those emergency response vehicles pick up hot meals two times a day," Palmer said. "Then they're able to take those out into the affected areas."

The organization accomplishes that by either setting up a feeding site where people come up to the vehicle and get a meal, or by having volunteers drive around on a loudspeaker alerting people.

The Red Cross also has box trucks on the road providing emergency supplies such as cleanup kits.

But those aren't the only tasks the nonprofit's volunteers are trained to take on these days.

Volunteers are helping with needs from mental health to replacing necessary items

"We have volunteers that are here doing disaster mental health," Palmer said. "The community has just gone through a very traumatic experience."

Some volunteers are helping displaced residents replace medication and eyeglasses, among others necessary items.

"Really [we're] focusing on providing comfort, care and compassion during this extremely tragic time," Palmer said.

Mobile kitchens cook thousands of hot meals each day, which the Red Cross then distributes, Palmer added.

Volunteers work between eight and 12 hours each day.

Once volunteers providing food on the road finish their route, they're able to return to a staff shelter where the Red Cross is lodging those volunteers in teams.

"The days are long ... They're very busy," Palmer said. "There are a lot of moving parts in a disaster response operation."

Since Ian's devastation, they've worked closely with the NAACP and Catholic Charities, among other organizations.

The Red Cross primarily serves an older demographic in its shelters, and the nonprofit is also helping the Latino community and minorities, Palmer said.

Palmer has worked several disasters locally, such as Hurricane Irma, tornadoes, wildfires and flooding. She's also been deployed to Louisiana and northern Florida for other natural disasters.

"The one thing that is always so incredibly inspiring is how many volunteers raise their hands ... Take the time to leave their family for two weeks to deploy to come and serve," Palmer said. "The sacrifice that they made to be able to do that and then to see that here in our local community is really just incredible."

Palmer says she's most grateful to see the coverage they've done and the amount of resources they've pushed out into the community.

"We are helping people," Palmer said. "We know there's more help needed and we're going to do everything we can to make sure that everybody is taken care of."

Palmer said they're not putting a timestamp on their stay.

Over the last week, Palmer has been on the roads daily.

Wrath of Ian: Expensive cars on Vanderbilt Rd. in Naples damaged by Hurricane Ian

Picking up after the storm: Boats and homes damaged, but cleanup begins

Hurricane Ian survivor in Naples: 'We will never come back to Florida'

"The impact of driving Fort Myers Beach," Palmer said. "A place where I've grown up ... Where I spent vacations, taken my family, eaten many meals ... And to really see and feel the devastation that has happened out there is indescribable."

Palmer said the outpouring of support she's seen has made it all worth it.

"Just to see all of the action that is happening around our community," she said. "You can't help but have a full heart ... To know that there's a lot of good that happens.

Palmer says she sees something good is coming from this this tragedy. She encourages anybody who would like to help the Red Cross to donate money to the nonprofit.

"That allows us to continue to be prepared for the next event and also to be able to use those dollars to respond," she said.

Those impacted by the storm can contact the Red Cross at 1-800-RED-CROSS.

Those who want to help can also contact the Red Cross at the same phone number or by visiting redcross.org.

"If someone wants to find a Red Cross shelter, we have four shelters open," said Michael Devulpillieres, spokesperson for the American Red Cross in South Florida.

Those looking for a nearby shelter may also download the Red Cross' emergency app, which has the shelter locations, or you can go to redcross.org to find those shelter locations.

"I think it's just important to keep an eye on someone who is at their home now and needs a safe place to stay," Devulpillieres said.

Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Twitter @TomasFRoBeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran and TikTok @tomasfrodriguez.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Over 1,500 Red Cross volunteers continue to aid Hurricane Ian victims