RICHMOND, Va. -- As volunteers descend upon Mississippi this week to help tornado victims clean up and get back on their feet, one Red Cross volunteer from Richmond has a different mission in mind.
"To put their hope back in humanity and back in God is what I really want to do," Red Cross volunteer and Richmond-area pastor Corey Baker said. "Just believing that they can move forward from this happening. That's what I'm hoping to get from this, and hope to leave with them, that there is hope."
Baker, who has been a Red Cross volunteer for 16 years, is one of four volunteers from the Virginia Red Cross and one of 250 from across the country.
Jonathan McNamara, with the Virginia Red Cross, said once tornado victims' immediate needs are met, they'll shift to the next phase of recovery efforts.
"Helping them identify additional housing opportunities, helping them coordinate with other partners and other relief agencies that are on the ground," McNamara said. "In these types of situations, no one organization can provide for all of the needs of these communities, but the Red Cross we'd like to be a facilitator."
Baker said his work will entail going into shelters and listening to those impacted by the deadly storms.
"You're just going to be amazed when you sit there and listen to people," Baker said. "You're not listening just to say something, you're listening because you care."
Baker encouraged others to join the Red Cross as a volunteer.
"It's such a wonderful way to give back to the world," he said.
Those unable to volunteer their time can make a $10 donation by texting 90999.
At least 21 people in Mississippi and a man in Alabama perished as menacing storms trekked across the Deep South over the weekend. The toll was especially steep in Sharkey County, in western Mississippi, where 13 people died in a county of 4,200 residents.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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