They have names. Andrew, Charley, Katrina. Floyd and Mickey Veenstra are familiar with these hurricanes and the people they affected. They know the damage and the people these storms left behind. They know because they were there to help.

Floyd and Mickey started volunteering with their denomination's disaster relief group, the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC). During their relief work after Hurricane Andrew, they worked closely with volunteers with the Red Cross.

This is how their Red Cross journey began. "We thought it was one more way we could serve," Mickey says.

Starting in 1994, they went on one Red Cross assignment every year. They saw the damage left by tornadoes, floods and hurricanes across the United States. Sometimes they were there before the disaster even hit, like in North Dakota. Floyd and Mickey were sent to North Dakota with an Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) to provide food to the sandbaggers as they worked to hold back the river. They both worked a long day, and went to bed at a hotel on high land. Everyone thought that the sand bags would be enough, and the waters would be held back. When they woke up, the city was under
water and they could not reach the ERV they had brought. So they were assigned a new ERV and they told the volunteers via radio who were driving their original ERV to "take care of their baby."

In 11 years, they had been on eleven deployments. By the end of 2005, they had been on fourteen. During the busy hurricane season that most of us remember, they provided mobile feeding and sheltering services across the southeastern United States. They went where they were needed, staying in hotels, schools and a beauty salon.

The beauty salon was in Mississippi and a local family whose house was inhabitable because of the hurricane offered their place of business to five couples that were involved in Red Cross relief efforts. Floyd became friends with the family's five-year-old, who couldn't get enough of his great personality. "You don't know what you're going to get," says Mickey.

The one thing they do know they are going to get is friends. Floyd and Mickey still correspond at Christmas with clients they worked with on their disaster assignments. However, whether they are corresponding or not, each client has left an impression on this friendly couple.

Floyd still tells the story of one client in Alabama, who came to their ERV to get a warm meal while his electricity was out. He directed them to local areas and neighbors that also needed food, and the next day he came to the local store where they were distributing food. He was so grateful for the food they had given them the day before, he helped break down boxes for them in the parking lot.

"We try to leave our clients with a smile, hug and the hope that things will get better," they say, "We try to treat them with love and respect and to listen to them."
These principles apply to any client they come in contact with, be it on a national disaster or a family affected by a fire they encounter during their duties with the Disaster Action Team. When they are in town, they volunteer to be on call, and respond to local fires in Racine County.

And when they are not in town, they are deployed, or visiting their six children, 13 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren across the United States and in Oman. During the winter, they go to Texas or Florida, where they volunteer for their church. And if you can't find them at any of these sites, you can also find Floyd and Mickey in Mexico, where they are involved in helping out at an orphanage.

Wherever they are, these two dedicated Red Cross workers know why they are involved with the Red Cross. "We like to work with the clients," Floyd admits. "Often times you have a route and you see people two or three times a day. You get to be their stability."

"You do what you can to help them, and you still feel so blessed in return," Mickey says.

Whatever this committed couple does to help, there is no doubt every client of the Red Cross knows they care.