HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — Early Monday morning, American Red Cross volunteers Mary Davis-Barton and Mike Kennedy prepared an emergency response vehicle (ERV) outside the donation center on Emerywood Parkway.
Davis-Barton knows their destination well.
“I grew up in Northeastern Kentucky, so going back there is kind of like going home,” she explained.
The team will travel 500 miles west to London, Kentucky where a devastating tornado damaged hundreds of homes, tossed vehicles, and left many homeless.
Officials said at least 19 people were killed in Kentucky, most of them in Southeastern Laurel County.
Davis-Barton grew up in Lexington, Kentucky, which is about an hour's drive from her temporary home for the next two weeks. They're tasked with feeding families, some who lost everything.
Monday’s trip will mark at least 26 deployments in nearly two decades for the volunteer who earned the nickname “Mama Mary” while at the University of Kentucky.
“I just have a tendency to want to take care of people,” Davis-Barton said.
Responding to natural disasters and relief efforts is not a new experience for many within the Virginia chapter of the American Red Cross.
Davis-Barton and Kennedy will join fellow volunteer Ellen White, who flew out from the Richmond International Airport Sunday.
White, who has been deployed to countless disaster zones, will operate one of the Red Cross's emergency warehouses.
“We care and that’s why we do what we do. We care about our neighbors. We care about the people who live across the country and that’s what we do,” White said.
The Kentucky disaster zone will be Kennedy’s second deployment with the Red Cross after a long career in the Air Force. He retired from active duty as a pilot in 2009.
“It’s an opportunity to give back. I come from a military background, so this is a great way to continue to serve,” Kennedy stated.
Davis-Barton shows no signs of slowing down and helping families when they need help the most.
“It's just the feeling that you get when you hand a mother food for her children and she starts crying,” she explained. “Or an 80 year old man comes up and says, ‘I haven't had hot food in eight days,’ and starts crying when you give them just a simple meal.”
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