As thousands in Southern California have been displaced after the devastating wildfires that have killed at least 25 people and burned neighborhoods to the ground, the first Baltimore Red Cross worker is headed across the country to help with relief efforts on Friday.
Reynaldo Vega, the region’s community disaster program manager, said he will help with providing those in need with food, shelter, emotional care, recovery planning and financial assistance.
“Shelter and a hot meal is a very basic necessity,” said Vega, 39. “That’s something that we are able to provide, and that just helps a person who’s been impacted just maintain that dignity and that respect.”
He said as long as there is need for help, the Red Cross will be there to support.
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Vega will join nearly 450 other Red Cross responders– six of which traveled from the Baltimore region – as he volunteers for a few weeks in what will be his fifth disaster response. His previous disaster assistance included last year’s Key Bridge collapse, flooding in Iowa, and Hurricane Helene’s devastation in North Carolina.
The volunteers already on the ground in California are either staffed at evacuation centers or out in the community connecting people to resources and safety, which is the team he will be working with.
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Vega said when he finds someone that does not know what to do, he starts by offering them a safe place to stay, a meal and financial assistance to help cover urgent expenses.
He said people affected by the fires can access financial assistance by visiting a disaster recovery center or going to the Red Cross website.
Vega added that anyone can make a donation and help with the financial assistance by texting CAWILDFIRES to 90999.
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“How cool is it that a place like that exists where if I wanted to help, and I’m watching this happen on the TV, I can pick up my phone and just text and help the people that are helping the people out there,” he said. “I just really think it’s important to help, especially those in those most vulnerable communities that need the most help from us.”
On Thursday morning, more than 680 people who have escaped the fires woke up in six Red Cross shelters in Pasadena and Los Angeles, according to the nonprofit.
Vega said the nonprofit expects the number of evacuees in shelters to increase, so the Red Cross is on standby to staff the shelters and support their local partners.
The top priority for the Red Cross is housing, Vega said, but responders are also helping with transportation, health care and child care.
“The idea is we want to have somewhere where people can access resources and aid from multiple organizations so they can all play a role in their recovery,” Vega said.
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From 2016 to 2023 prior to joining Red Cross, Vega was an emergency reservist for two organizations based out of the San Antonio area: Endeavors and National Emergency Management and Response.
“I supported disaster preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery during national declarations of emergency,” Vega said.
He said as a Mexican-American who grew up in Texas, he feels connected to the work he does for the Red Cross, and especially so in Los Angeles where there is a large Latino population. They feel like his people, he said, and he wants to play a role in helping them.
“I’m just so thankful that organizations like the Red Cross exist to give people like me who feel that it’s important for each of us to serve our communities in any capacity that we’re able to,” Vega said.
Giving back fulfills him, as it does for many of the other volunteers who want to make sure that everyone is taken care of and ensure that people get the dignity and respect they deserve as human beings, he said.
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This article was updated to correct that Reynaldo Vega volunteered as a full-time Red Cross employee.
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