March 26, 2025 • 30 mins
In this episode of Next Door Gospel, host Peggy Griffith interviews Patty Flowers, a dedicated Red Cross volunteer with extensive experience in disaster response. Griffith reflects on her own experience with a devastating flood in Kentucky and introduces Flowers, whose inspiration to volunteer was sparked by her grandmother’s dedication to helping others. Flowers shares her journey from being the CEO of the Red Cross in Wisconsin to becoming a volunteer. She vividly describes her experiences in various disaster zones, particularly her deployment during Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, highlighting the emotional and logistical challenges faced. The conversation emphasizes the profound impact of humanitarian work, the spirit of community resilience, and the significant role of volunteers in disaster relief. Flowers also shares stories of personal connections and sacred intersections during her deployments, encouraging others to volunteer and make a difference. The episode closes with a heartfelt message of gratitude and hope.
For information on volunteering with the Red Cross, visit https://www.redcross.org/volunteer.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Peggy (00:10):
Hello and welcome to Next Door Gospel.
I am your host Peggy Griffithand today's episode is something
that is very near and dear to myheart.
In 1997, I found myself in themiddle of a disaster zone when a
devastating flood ripped throughmy hometown in northern
Kentucky.
It was a difficult time therewere the helpers, as Mr Rogers
(00:34):
always said, those that rantowards the crisis and the
devastation to help thoseimpacted by providing shelter,
supplies, meals, and even ashoulder to cry on.
And those were the volunteersthat came from the Red Cross.
So today we have a very specialguest who embodies the spirit of
(00:56):
humanitarian service.
She is a dedicated Red Crossvolunteer, who has been deployed
to numerous disaster zones,including the recent Hurricane
Helene in North Carolina.
So I'd like to welcome PattyFlowers.
Thank you for being here.
Patty Flowers (01:14):
Oh, Peggy, thank you for having me.
I'm delighted to be here.
Peggy (01:18):
Let's start at the beginning.
Tell us about your experiencewith the Red Cross over the
years and how you becameinspired to become a Red Cross
volunteer.
Okay.
Patty Flowers (01:48):
Red Cross, and all of a sudden I was, like,
transported back to mygrandmother's house, because my
grandmother had, wrappedbandages, rolled bandages out of
her old, aprons and dresses andslips, for the Red Cross, and,
My grandmother was myinspiration for who I am today.
I'm so much like her, includingthis old chin right here.
(02:11):
That's her.
But she was the one that alwaystook care of people.
She fed the homeless out of herkitchen.
She took care of the singlefemale teachers that couldn't
live on their own back in thetwenties and thirties.
She gave them a room to live andfed them.
She played the.
Organ at church.
I mean, it was just, she wasjust one of those people.
(02:33):
And as soon as I heard RedCross, I thought, Oh, I need to
pursue this.
And so I did.
And, you know, for nine years, Iwas the regional, chief
executive officer for the stateof Wisconsin.
Wonderful, wonderful role.
And then I retired and Iimmediately became a volunteer.
So that's how it all.
(02:54):
Happened.
Peggy (02:56):
It all came back full circle and it sounds like, that
spiritual calling is somethingthat was rooted in you from your
grandmother's experience.
Patty Flowers (03:06):
She is the one, and I love both of my
grandparents, all mygrandparents, but both of my
grandmothers were just amazingwomen, very different in their
own way, but they also felt thatI could do no wrong, and
anything I wanted to do wasperfectly fine.
They gave me that selfconfidence, and I watched her
(03:27):
and.
I knew that's just what I wantedto do.
I wanted to be like her.
And so, a lot of what I've donein my life, being on a school
board, many different boards,committees, going in, into the
feeding kitchens and helping geta meal prepared, things like
that, that, that's her.
It's totally me channeling her,which is, A wonderful thing.
Peggy (03:48):
So fascinating.
And before we dive into yourrecent experience, with
Hurricane Helene, walk us alittle bit through what a
typical deployment looks likefor a Red Cross volunteer.
Patty Flowers (04:01):
Well, there is no such thing as a typical
deployment.
That's what I'll say right offthe top.
Every disaster is different.
and the differences is wherethey happen.
So it could be the geography ofthe area.
The amount of area that itcovers, whether it's a huge
amount of geography, or if it'sa small, smaller piece, flooding
(04:22):
is very different than, any ofthe others, the wildfires, the
things like that, flooding goeson forever and they end up with
mold and things like thatafterwards.
So it's not, even if your houseseems to be okay, it can turn
into not okay.
So that's the first thing thatI'd love people to know is there
is no disaster that I can pointto that is the same exact thing.
(04:45):
The only thing I would say isthe same is that you get out of
it, what you put into it andthen some, to me.
I get paid back twice as much asI give to it.
Peggy (04:57):
Wow, that is inspiring.
Take us through those first fewdays after Hurricane Helene hit
and what the scene was like whenyou arrived.
Patty Flowers (05:09):
So everyone has to realize that it's a, it's
almost always a hurry up andwait, when you get to a
disaster.
It, each one is so different,but there, we've got multiple
people coming in from all overthe country.
They have to get checked in,they have to get sent to the
right place, and sometimes yougo there and you're not, they're
not ready for you.
So sometimes you just, it's thebest thing to remember is that
(05:33):
it's okay if you have to wait,you'll get busy pretty soon and
then you'll be sorry that youdon't have a little waiting
time.
But when I arrived in, in NorthCarolina, I had to go to
Charlotte, first because Icouldn't get into Asheville,
which is where we needed to be.
The airport was closed the daythat I flew out.
And so I went to Charlotte,which was a little strange
(05:54):
because Charlotte didn't getvery Bad, they didn't get hit
very hard.
And so as we were travelingaround, it was almost like
business as usual.
Coffee shops were open.
The hotels were open.
We had internet access, all thisstuff.
but we knew we needed to be inAsheville because that was like
the center where, everythingfrom there happened, and hit so
(06:16):
hard.
So it was about three days laterthat I actually did drive up to
Asheville with another RedCrosser and It was, it's hard to
even describe because I startedto see the damage almost
immediately on the side of theroad.
Trees were down everywhere andpeople had come along.
(06:36):
And I thought it was like,county workers came along and
cut the trees right at the edgeof the road so that you could
get through.
Well, no, it was that it was thecommunity people that came out
with their chainsaws and theymoved the trees enough to allow
all the vehicles to get through.
I had to stop for gas before Igot to Asheville and there was a
(06:58):
layer of sand everywhere, when Iwas able to pull into this one
gas station and get up to thepump, I stepped out and it was a
good half inch of sand all overthe place.
They didn't have water, they hadelectricity, and they had,
generators that were allowingthem to pump the gas.
But that was my first clue.
(07:18):
Okay, something's a littledifferent here.
but once I got into Asheville,the first thing that struck me
was the amount of helicoptersoverhead.
all I saw and heard werehelicopters worrying above me.
And that was because We had overeight counties that got hit
really, really hard, biggeographies in those counties,
(07:41):
and the helicopters weresearching for people.
They were looking into themountains.
We were in the western part ofNorth Carolina.
Don't forget that.
They don't get hurricanes.
It's, it is not like a normalthing for them to be
anticipating like Houston orMiami.
And so for them, they were all,you know, walking around almost
(08:01):
shell shocked that this hadoccurred, but they had also had
a ton of rain before thehurricane hit.
So the ground was alreadysaturated and mudslides, over
1700 mudslides happened in thosecounties, and this is really
rural areas, and again, peoplewere just stuck because they
(08:21):
couldn't get up the hills to getout of there if they were still
alive.
It was.
Monumental.
It was almost, um, it almosttook me over into this.
What do I do?
How do I even start?
Um, but then I did.
I just said, okay, I got to getgoing.
I got to do my job.
I got to, contribute to thisand.
(08:44):
The more I did that, the more Irealized I'm helping and my
little piece of what I'm doingis multiplied by, seven, eight
hundred people on the groundthat are trying to do similar
things and get people safe, getthem a place with a roof over
their heads, food, water, andjust.
A hug.
(09:05):
That's some of the biggestthings that we do.
Peggy (09:12):
Hello, everyone.
It's like an angel wrappingaround you when you find
yourself utterly devastated.
And I think for those who arelistening to this podcast and
maybe remembering, the newsstories from Hurricane Helene,
you may remember, video shotsand pictures, satellite images
(09:34):
from space
Patty Flowers (09:36):
Right.
Peggy (09:37):
showed the course of the hurricane and how it moved.
And the how, like all the forcesthat came together and it
literally exploded
Patty Flowers (09:49):
Right.
Peggy (09:49):
western part of North Carolina.
You could see it happen on themap and having come from my own
roots in Appalachia, Iunderstand mountains and I
understand hollers.
Patty Flowers (10:05):
Yep.
Peggy (10:07):
The mudslide experience and the helicopters going around
just since chills up my spine,because I know that there are
people that are probably stillnot found.
Patty Flowers (10:22):
That's true.
That's true.
There are people that didn'tmake it that were found, but I
believe last time I checkedthere were still almost a
hundred that had not been found.
And are not accounted for.
And that part makes it sodifficult.
the executive director in, ofthe Red Cross in Asheville lost
a dear friend in the hurricane,and I just attached myself to
(10:47):
her so many times.
I'd see her in the morning andwe'd, we'd just hug.
And I would just say, how areyou today?
What's today like?
And at each day she got a littlebit stronger.
And of course she was in themiddle of it too, trying to do
everything that she needed to doat the same time, grieving while
her home had been hit, althoughnot as bad, thank goodness, they
(11:07):
were juggling so many things.
and the other piece to this isthat this is.
This is Western North Carolinain the mountains.
They don't get hurricanes.
So, emergency managers andmayors and all of these people,
community leaders, they didn'tknow what to do.
They hadn't been practicing fora hurricane like they do in the
(11:30):
big cities on the Gulf and onthe Atlantic Ocean side.
Even North Carolina on theAtlantic side, they've had their
hurricanes.
And so we had to start fromscratch, pretty much teaching
all of them what to do at thesame time as us trying to get
where we needed to be.
It really is, this one inparticular struck me so hard
(11:50):
because the ones that live inthe hollers, they've been there
for sometimes four decades, fivedecades.
It was their great, greatgrandfather that started that
land and they don't want toleave it.
And so they stayed in homesthat.
were damaged so much, but theyweren't going to leave their
home or they put up a tent.
(12:12):
And so we ended up giving outthings that we're not used to
giving out, like a tent with astove.
They're called hot tents, andthey're made to be very safe so
that you can have a wood burningstove in the middle of the tent
and sleep anywhere up to eightpeople, safely.
So we started delivering thingslike that and generators and you
(12:32):
name it.
It was things that were verydifferent, but that's why every
disaster is different and theneeds are different.
The California wildfires goingon right now, their needs are
very different than the onesthat we saw in North Carolina.
And we have to adapt to that asthe Red Cross.
And do what the people need.
Oh, I could talk about this fordays and days.
So I'm going to try not to takeup all of your time.
Peggy (12:58):
I, understand completely.
And you talked a little bitabout, how this was so different
and how this was different.
from other deployments you'veexperienced.
And I know before we startedrecording, you had mentioned a
story to me about, somethingelse that was very different,
about this deployment and that,as you had mentioned, people who
(13:21):
are staying on their propertyand they're living in tents and
there's a creature in thosemountains.
That also is looking for somefood and things and so you found
yourself having to outsourcesome other materials you weren't
used to having to supply.
(13:42):
Tell me about that.
Patty Flowers (13:43):
yes.
Uh, there are black bears inthose hills, and, and the locals
are wonderful because they all,they just said to people like
me, who are like bears.
Oh my goodness.
And they're like, oh, they'reblack bears.
Don't worry.
And I'm like, no, sorry.
I don't care what color theyare.
They're a bear.
(14:04):
Well, they were hungry too.
And some of their feedinggrounds had been affected.
And so we saw them actually inAsheville.
I was staying in a, in a trailerin the parking lot.
So that's where I slept, for thefirst.
Oh, week and a half, I think.
And it was fine, but I had toleave the trailer to go to the
restroom trailer, because wedidn't have any water in
(14:27):
Ashville.
And so they had to bring it infor us.
Well, if you go out in themiddle of the night, you know,
the one thing I don't want toencounter, just so you know, is
a black bear and they're rightthere in the neighborhood.
They're right there.
And so people live.
Near these bears.
Well, we got a request, severalrequests from fire departments
(14:47):
saying we need bear proofcontainers for food and I was
like, oh, didn't even think ofthat.
But if you're in a tent and yourfood is not in a bear proof
container, you're in deep.
Trouble because the bears aregonna come and find it, and if
it's close to you, you could gethurt.
And so we certainly didn't wantthat.
(15:07):
So we ended up sourcing twodifferent sizes of bear proof
food containers.
Two, two semi-truck came in fullof these containers and we got
them out to mostly the firedepartments and they were,
putting them outside of theirfire department, building, and
letting people come and getthem, so they could stay where
they wanted to be.
(15:28):
but I, I I get it.
It's your home.
It's, it's where you'recomfortable.
So we, we met them where theywere.
How's that?
Peggy (15:37):
And that's exactly where the gospel shows up, is right
where you are.
And speaking of that in, inmoments of those devastation,
how do you maintain yourspiritual strength when you're
faced with people who are justexperiencing the absolute worst
moments of their lives?
Patty Flowers (15:57):
You know, there is a section, a group of
volunteers called staff healthand they actually look out for
us.
That's what their whole thing isfor.
We have a group that, that dealswith our clients and their
health, but we also have a groupthat works just for with us.
And so they're constantlywatching for us.
They have positive messages andall of our daily, reports that
(16:21):
go out, our disaster mentalhealth volunteers who are
amazing people come and just.
And say, How are you doing?
And, then I, I'm like, can Ihave a hug?
And I just get the biggest bearhug from these people.
And sometimes it's these menthat are the big burly guys, and
(16:42):
you least expect it, but theygive the best hugs ever.
You know, that energized meenough to just keep going.
And, but.
Even more so, when a clienttells you how thankful they are
for you and hugs you.
I can be up for 48 hours in arow and do what I need to do
(17:05):
based on that because I knowwhat I'm doing is making a
difference.
And that's the kind of thingthat it fills my buckets there's
one story and it was notHurricane Helene.
It was in Houston.
I was walking through one of ourlargest shelters and I was there
to do a whole different job.
I wasn't, I wasn't assigned tothe shelter, but I had to get
(17:26):
there to actually to help,Welcome a congressman who is
visiting, you know, one of the,one of our VIP visitors, we call
them.
And this lady saw me with my RedCross shirt on.
I had my insignia showing andshe said, can I ask you a
question?
And I said, of course.
And she said, I heard that we'regoing to get 300 from the Red
(17:49):
Cross.
And I heard that it, we mightbe, it might be happening, but I
don't know if it really is.
And I said, well, actually, Ihappen to know that it's going
to be turned on today and you'regoing to get 400, not 300.
And she said, Oh, really?
And I said, yes, really?
(18:09):
I've just been in meetings and Iknow.
It's happening this afternoon,so I said, stay tuned, it will
happen.
And she just looked at me andshe said, Oh, thank you.
She said, I just want to go andget some flowers and place them
on my baby's grave.
And that just, I mean, I canfeel the dagger in my heart
right now.
(18:29):
I can just feel it going in.
She's, She had a miscarriagethree days before the hurricane
hit and she had to bury herbaby.
And she wanted to go and putsome flowers.
Well, it was all I could do notto find out where that grave was
and go put some flowers on it.
and I knew I had to keep goingwith my focus.
(18:51):
But she was so grateful and shesaid, can I hug you?
And I said, of course, and wehad the best.
I, I think I've told that storya lot because it was one that
just affected me so much.
She wasn't looking for, someclothing for herself.
She wasn't looking for anythingbig.
She just wanted flowers for herbaby's grave.
(19:14):
And she probably.
went to Walmart and got theflowers and put them on the
grave and it probably made herfeel so much better.
That's the kind of thing thatjust, again, it feels, it fills
my heart.
It fills my bucket.
I can just, I was, I was almostwalking on air after that
because I was there for apurpose and I knew my life is
(19:35):
blessed.
And that's.
All I needed.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Peggy (19:41):
Were there, in addition to this, other moments or
situations where you just feltsome sort of divine
intervention, some unexplainableway that things came together?
Is there a particular story thatyou would share that stands out
to you?
Okay.
Patty Flowers (20:15):
anything about, but I, I've answered when I'm on
a disaster, I answer every phonecall and I answered and it was
this lady in the community.
I, to this day, I don't know howshe found my number.
Our numbers are not out therefor the public.
We give them to certain peopleto say here, call me back on my
number.
But it is not something thatanybody can just find.
(20:36):
She was in the community and shenoticed these three trailer
parks.
There were a lot of trailerparks in the Asheville area in
particular, but in SouthCarolina as well.
But these three trailer parkshad tons of kids, lots of
families.
And she said, well, I've beenfeeding, As much as I can, my
friends and I made 250sandwiches, and we ran out
(21:00):
before we got through the firsttrailer park, and she said, I
just really need someone to helpfeed this area.
And I said, well, of course, ofcourse you do.
And can you tell me exactlywhere they are?
And what she said next was,well, the kids Rely on two of
their meals a day from school,and they hadn't been in school
(21:23):
since the previous Thursday whenthe hurricane hit, and it had
been at least, yeah, exactly.
It had been at least five dayssince they had been in school.
And so everyone, when they sawthese ladies giving out the
sandwiches, they just surroundedtheir cars and they were
thrilled to get what they could.
Well, I worked with her andfound out exactly where these
(21:46):
places were.
And I put in an order forfeeding three times a day.
We went out with snacks, water,uh, cold lunches, hot meals at
night.
Um, we gave out some shelfstable meals, which, you know,
are the kind that you don't haveto do much with.
And if you don't haveelectricity, you don't have to
(22:09):
worry about that.
And they didn't, um, She and Iput it all together and we
started feeding with no end datebecause we didn't know at that
point when it, when theywouldn't need us anymore.
I, again, how did she get myphone number and know that I
could help her?
And that was part of my job.
Actually, what I was doing wastaking requests for feeding or
(22:32):
for shelters or for supplies andsending them to the right place
to get them done.
I, I literally felt chills.
And, figured, oh, this was someant to be, and something
intervened there, some divineintervention happened that
(22:53):
caused us to be able to gettogether quickly and help Before
more of a disaster struck thesepoor people with hunger and,
maybe medication issues, we senta health services person in the
truck with them so that theycould assess if there were any
needs for asthma or diabetes,you know, heart drugs, things
(23:14):
like that.
Um, it, that one in particular,I.
I feel very strongly thatsomething was looking out and
putting us together.
Peggy (23:25):
And that is so powerful.
And these are the stories wedon't get to hear about on the
news very often.
Patty Flowers (23:31):
Right.
Peggy (23:32):
and it's important that people know how those things
work.
And as you've gone through thisexperience, how has your faith
evolved through this work, orhas it challenged your
relationship with God?
Patty Flowers (23:49):
I remain full of faith.
After every disaster, I comeback filled.
I'm exhausted.
Don't get me wrong.
I am always exhausted because wework long days and we are
supposed to have a day off everyseven days, which I try very
hard to do because you do needthat.
But I realized that.
We can get through anything, andwhen I used to work for the Red
(24:12):
Cross, the one thing that keptme up at night Was what if the
Red Cross wasn't here?
How in the world would peopleget through these disasters if
we weren't here?
And that's what kept me sodriven and focused to stay on
track to Raise as much money aswe could to get as many
volunteers as we could.
(24:33):
So honestly, I will have to sayI remain very full of faith and
I can do anything Because I'vegot this whole sisterhood and
brotherhood called the AmericanRed Cross that's out there with
me and we will get the job done.
We will be there and we willstay there until it's, we're not
needed.
Peggy (24:53):
That is so amazing.
Looking back at your journey,what has surprised you the most
about this calling with the RedCross?
Patty Flowers (25:06):
You know, I can't say I've been surprised.
By too many things.
But the thing that does surpriseme is how many disasters we have
now, how large they are, howunusual they are.
and you know, whether youbelieve in climate change or
not, something's occurring thatwe used to have a big disaster
(25:27):
and then we'd have a downtime ofseveral months and then another
one and a downtime.
And of course, we take care ofhome fires as well.
And those are ongoing throughoutthe year.
I don't think I'm surprised bymuch.
I guess it's the only thing Iwill say is that what our
volunteers will do and how muchthey will offer.
(25:49):
And I'm one of them now, so Ican say that as much.
It Is very surprising at times,but there are a lot of people
that dedicate a great amount oftime to helping other people in
this world.
And, I think that's one of thekey messages I like to remember
because, I never knew how muchit was before I started at Red
Cross.
(26:09):
And now I see it every singleday And it, and it continues to
make me awfully happy that wehave that many people, the
helpers as you call them,they're there.
Peggy (26:20):
And they're on the ground and they're helping one hug at a
time.
Patty Flowers (26:25):
One hug at a time, and we'll get through it.
We can do anything.
Mm
Peggy (26:31):
Wow.
So we're coming to the end ofour time together.
But I have one final question.
What is your message to someonewho might be listening and be
wrestling with a call to servein some way or to serve in this
type of capacity?
What would your message be tothem?
Patty Flowers (26:51):
I'm gonna do the old Nike saying, just do it.
And the reason I say that, justdo it.
I can't tell you how much itfills my bucket to do these kind
of things.
And I always have toldvolunteers when I was an
employee, I did it, and I stilldo to this day.
Do what makes you happy.
If you're not enjoying what youdo, stop doing it and look for a
(27:16):
different avenue because we haveso many different choices of
things that you can do to helpothers.
It'll make you realize howblessed your life really is when
you help others that are goingthrough such horrifying times.
It makes you feel good.
And so I, I think that you makefriends.
you will have friends from allover the country because you all
(27:38):
come together to help out at thesame time.
You got to be prepared for thehardships at the same time.
It was like I said, I wassleeping in a trailer for a
while and it was fine.
Please don't get me wrong.
I was grateful to have a bed andwe could close the door and,
hope that the black bearsweren't going to come after us,
but, Sometimes, yeah, sometimesthe hardships really are there,
(28:01):
so be prepared for it, know thatyou might have to wait for a
little while before you get yourassignment, but just do it.
It is so rewarding in the longrun.
I can't tell people enough howmuch it makes a difference in
your life when you dedicate sometime to this.
Peggy (28:20):
Wow.
Thank you, Patty, so much forsharing your story with us
today.
As I mentioned, this issomething that's very near and
dear.
to my heart, my own experienceswith the Red Cross, on the
receiving end of it.
And so.
My heart is just overflowing atgetting this opportunity to
(28:41):
share with the world the workthat you've done and that
demonstrates the goodness that'sin this world and the goodness
in action, even when it feelslike things are hopeless.
So thank you so much.
For being here today.
Patty Flowers (28:57):
Oh, it's my pleasure that you asked me to do
this, and I hope I didn't talktoo much because I can do this
for hours at a time.
Peggy (29:07):
Well, your enthusiasm is evident and your great passion
and love is evident and Icouldn't be more grateful to be
sharing this, the story and toour listeners, if you're
interested in learning moreabout becoming a Red Cross
volunteer, You can visitredcross.org/volunteer, and I
(29:28):
will put a link to this in theshow notes when I published the
episode but i'd like to thankall of you for joining us in
this episode of next door gospeland until next time Remember
that god can use each of us tomake a difference in ways that
we may never have imagined Somay the lord bless you and keep
you and the lord make his faceto shine upon you and be
(29:51):
gracious to you The lord turnhis face towards you and give
you peace Amen
Hello and welcome to Next Door Gospel.
I am your host Peggy Griffithand today's episode is something
that is very near and dear to myheart.
In 1997, I found myself in themiddle of a disaster zone when a
devastating flood ripped throughmy hometown in northern
Kentucky.
It was a difficult time therewere the helpers, as Mr Rogers
(00:34):
always said, those that rantowards the crisis and the
devastation to help thoseimpacted by providing shelter,
supplies, meals, and even ashoulder to cry on.
And those were the volunteersthat came from the Red Cross.
So today we have a very specialguest who embodies the spirit of
(00:56):
humanitarian service.
She is a dedicated Red Crossvolunteer, who has been deployed
to numerous disaster zones,including the recent Hurricane
Helene in North Carolina.
So I'd like to welcome PattyFlowers.
Thank you for being here.
Patty Flowers (01:14):
Oh, Peggy, thank you for having me.
I'm delighted to be here.
Peggy (01:18):
Let's start at the beginning.
Tell us about your experiencewith the Red Cross over the
years and how you becameinspired to become a Red Cross
volunteer.
Okay.
Patty Flowers (01:48):
Red Cross, and all of a sudden I was, like,
transported back to mygrandmother's house, because my
grandmother had, wrappedbandages, rolled bandages out of
her old, aprons and dresses andslips, for the Red Cross, and,
My grandmother was myinspiration for who I am today.
I'm so much like her, includingthis old chin right here.
(02:11):
That's her.
But she was the one that alwaystook care of people.
She fed the homeless out of herkitchen.
She took care of the singlefemale teachers that couldn't
live on their own back in thetwenties and thirties.
She gave them a room to live andfed them.
She played the.
Organ at church.
I mean, it was just, she wasjust one of those people.
(02:33):
And as soon as I heard RedCross, I thought, Oh, I need to
pursue this.
And so I did.
And, you know, for nine years, Iwas the regional, chief
executive officer for the stateof Wisconsin.
Wonderful, wonderful role.
And then I retired and Iimmediately became a volunteer.
So that's how it all.
(02:54):
Happened.
Peggy (02:56):
It all came back full circle and it sounds like, that
spiritual calling is somethingthat was rooted in you from your
grandmother's experience.
Patty Flowers (03:06):
She is the one, and I love both of my
grandparents, all mygrandparents, but both of my
grandmothers were just amazingwomen, very different in their
own way, but they also felt thatI could do no wrong, and
anything I wanted to do wasperfectly fine.
They gave me that selfconfidence, and I watched her
(03:27):
and.
I knew that's just what I wantedto do.
I wanted to be like her.
And so, a lot of what I've donein my life, being on a school
board, many different boards,committees, going in, into the
feeding kitchens and helping geta meal prepared, things like
that, that, that's her.
It's totally me channeling her,which is, A wonderful thing.
Peggy (03:48):
So fascinating.
And before we dive into yourrecent experience, with
Hurricane Helene, walk us alittle bit through what a
typical deployment looks likefor a Red Cross volunteer.
Patty Flowers (04:01):
Well, there is no such thing as a typical
deployment.
That's what I'll say right offthe top.
Every disaster is different.
and the differences is wherethey happen.
So it could be the geography ofthe area.
The amount of area that itcovers, whether it's a huge
amount of geography, or if it'sa small, smaller piece, flooding
(04:22):
is very different than, any ofthe others, the wildfires, the
things like that, flooding goeson forever and they end up with
mold and things like thatafterwards.
So it's not, even if your houseseems to be okay, it can turn
into not okay.
So that's the first thing thatI'd love people to know is there
is no disaster that I can pointto that is the same exact thing.
(04:45):
The only thing I would say isthe same is that you get out of
it, what you put into it andthen some, to me.
I get paid back twice as much asI give to it.
Peggy (04:57):
Wow, that is inspiring.
Take us through those first fewdays after Hurricane Helene hit
and what the scene was like whenyou arrived.
Patty Flowers (05:09):
So everyone has to realize that it's a, it's
almost always a hurry up andwait, when you get to a
disaster.
It, each one is so different,but there, we've got multiple
people coming in from all overthe country.
They have to get checked in,they have to get sent to the
right place, and sometimes yougo there and you're not, they're
not ready for you.
So sometimes you just, it's thebest thing to remember is that
(05:33):
it's okay if you have to wait,you'll get busy pretty soon and
then you'll be sorry that youdon't have a little waiting
time.
But when I arrived in, in NorthCarolina, I had to go to
Charlotte, first because Icouldn't get into Asheville,
which is where we needed to be.
The airport was closed the daythat I flew out.
And so I went to Charlotte,which was a little strange
(05:54):
because Charlotte didn't getvery Bad, they didn't get hit
very hard.
And so as we were travelingaround, it was almost like
business as usual.
Coffee shops were open.
The hotels were open.
We had internet access, all thisstuff.
but we knew we needed to be inAsheville because that was like
the center where, everythingfrom there happened, and hit so
(06:16):
hard.
So it was about three days laterthat I actually did drive up to
Asheville with another RedCrosser and It was, it's hard to
even describe because I startedto see the damage almost
immediately on the side of theroad.
Trees were down everywhere andpeople had come along.
(06:36):
And I thought it was like,county workers came along and
cut the trees right at the edgeof the road so that you could
get through.
Well, no, it was that it was thecommunity people that came out
with their chainsaws and theymoved the trees enough to allow
all the vehicles to get through.
I had to stop for gas before Igot to Asheville and there was a
(06:58):
layer of sand everywhere, when Iwas able to pull into this one
gas station and get up to thepump, I stepped out and it was a
good half inch of sand all overthe place.
They didn't have water, they hadelectricity, and they had,
generators that were allowingthem to pump the gas.
But that was my first clue.
(07:18):
Okay, something's a littledifferent here.
but once I got into Asheville,the first thing that struck me
was the amount of helicoptersoverhead.
all I saw and heard werehelicopters worrying above me.
And that was because We had overeight counties that got hit
really, really hard, biggeographies in those counties,
(07:41):
and the helicopters weresearching for people.
They were looking into themountains.
We were in the western part ofNorth Carolina.
Don't forget that.
They don't get hurricanes.
It's, it is not like a normalthing for them to be
anticipating like Houston orMiami.
And so for them, they were all,you know, walking around almost
(08:01):
shell shocked that this hadoccurred, but they had also had
a ton of rain before thehurricane hit.
So the ground was alreadysaturated and mudslides, over
1700 mudslides happened in thosecounties, and this is really
rural areas, and again, peoplewere just stuck because they
(08:21):
couldn't get up the hills to getout of there if they were still
alive.
It was.
Monumental.
It was almost, um, it almosttook me over into this.
What do I do?
How do I even start?
Um, but then I did.
I just said, okay, I got to getgoing.
I got to do my job.
I got to, contribute to thisand.
(08:44):
The more I did that, the more Irealized I'm helping and my
little piece of what I'm doingis multiplied by, seven, eight
hundred people on the groundthat are trying to do similar
things and get people safe, getthem a place with a roof over
their heads, food, water, andjust.
A hug.
(09:05):
That's some of the biggestthings that we do.
Peggy (09:12):
Hello, everyone.
It's like an angel wrappingaround you when you find
yourself utterly devastated.
And I think for those who arelistening to this podcast and
maybe remembering, the newsstories from Hurricane Helene,
you may remember, video shotsand pictures, satellite images
(09:34):
from space
Patty Flowers (09:36):
Right.
Peggy (09:37):
showed the course of the hurricane and how it moved.
And the how, like all the forcesthat came together and it
literally exploded
Patty Flowers (09:49):
Right.
Peggy (09:49):
western part of North Carolina.
You could see it happen on themap and having come from my own
roots in Appalachia, Iunderstand mountains and I
understand hollers.
Patty Flowers (10:05):
Yep.
Peggy (10:07):
The mudslide experience and the helicopters going around
just since chills up my spine,because I know that there are
people that are probably stillnot found.
Patty Flowers (10:22):
That's true.
That's true.
There are people that didn'tmake it that were found, but I
believe last time I checkedthere were still almost a
hundred that had not been found.
And are not accounted for.
And that part makes it sodifficult.
the executive director in, ofthe Red Cross in Asheville lost
a dear friend in the hurricane,and I just attached myself to
(10:47):
her so many times.
I'd see her in the morning andwe'd, we'd just hug.
And I would just say, how areyou today?
What's today like?
And at each day she got a littlebit stronger.
And of course she was in themiddle of it too, trying to do
everything that she needed to doat the same time, grieving while
her home had been hit, althoughnot as bad, thank goodness, they
(11:07):
were juggling so many things.
and the other piece to this isthat this is.
This is Western North Carolinain the mountains.
They don't get hurricanes.
So, emergency managers andmayors and all of these people,
community leaders, they didn'tknow what to do.
They hadn't been practicing fora hurricane like they do in the
(11:30):
big cities on the Gulf and onthe Atlantic Ocean side.
Even North Carolina on theAtlantic side, they've had their
hurricanes.
And so we had to start fromscratch, pretty much teaching
all of them what to do at thesame time as us trying to get
where we needed to be.
It really is, this one inparticular struck me so hard
(11:50):
because the ones that live inthe hollers, they've been there
for sometimes four decades, fivedecades.
It was their great, greatgrandfather that started that
land and they don't want toleave it.
And so they stayed in homesthat.
were damaged so much, but theyweren't going to leave their
home or they put up a tent.
(12:12):
And so we ended up giving outthings that we're not used to
giving out, like a tent with astove.
They're called hot tents, andthey're made to be very safe so
that you can have a wood burningstove in the middle of the tent
and sleep anywhere up to eightpeople, safely.
So we started delivering thingslike that and generators and you
(12:32):
name it.
It was things that were verydifferent, but that's why every
disaster is different and theneeds are different.
The California wildfires goingon right now, their needs are
very different than the onesthat we saw in North Carolina.
And we have to adapt to that asthe Red Cross.
And do what the people need.
Oh, I could talk about this fordays and days.
So I'm going to try not to takeup all of your time.
Peggy (12:58):
I, understand completely.
And you talked a little bitabout, how this was so different
and how this was different.
from other deployments you'veexperienced.
And I know before we startedrecording, you had mentioned a
story to me about, somethingelse that was very different,
about this deployment and that,as you had mentioned, people who
(13:21):
are staying on their propertyand they're living in tents and
there's a creature in thosemountains.
That also is looking for somefood and things and so you found
yourself having to outsourcesome other materials you weren't
used to having to supply.
(13:42):
Tell me about that.
Patty Flowers (13:43):
yes.
Uh, there are black bears inthose hills, and, and the locals
are wonderful because they all,they just said to people like
me, who are like bears.
Oh my goodness.
And they're like, oh, they'reblack bears.
Don't worry.
And I'm like, no, sorry.
I don't care what color theyare.
They're a bear.
(14:04):
Well, they were hungry too.
And some of their feedinggrounds had been affected.
And so we saw them actually inAsheville.
I was staying in a, in a trailerin the parking lot.
So that's where I slept, for thefirst.
Oh, week and a half, I think.
And it was fine, but I had toleave the trailer to go to the
restroom trailer, because wedidn't have any water in
(14:27):
Ashville.
And so they had to bring it infor us.
Well, if you go out in themiddle of the night, you know,
the one thing I don't want toencounter, just so you know, is
a black bear and they're rightthere in the neighborhood.
They're right there.
And so people live.
Near these bears.
Well, we got a request, severalrequests from fire departments
(14:47):
saying we need bear proofcontainers for food and I was
like, oh, didn't even think ofthat.
But if you're in a tent and yourfood is not in a bear proof
container, you're in deep.
Trouble because the bears aregonna come and find it, and if
it's close to you, you could gethurt.
And so we certainly didn't wantthat.
(15:07):
So we ended up sourcing twodifferent sizes of bear proof
food containers.
Two, two semi-truck came in fullof these containers and we got
them out to mostly the firedepartments and they were,
putting them outside of theirfire department, building, and
letting people come and getthem, so they could stay where
they wanted to be.
(15:28):
but I, I I get it.
It's your home.
It's, it's where you'recomfortable.
So we, we met them where theywere.
How's that?
Peggy (15:37):
And that's exactly where the gospel shows up, is right
where you are.
And speaking of that in, inmoments of those devastation,
how do you maintain yourspiritual strength when you're
faced with people who are justexperiencing the absolute worst
moments of their lives?
Patty Flowers (15:57):
You know, there is a section, a group of
volunteers called staff healthand they actually look out for
us.
That's what their whole thing isfor.
We have a group that, that dealswith our clients and their
health, but we also have a groupthat works just for with us.
And so they're constantlywatching for us.
They have positive messages andall of our daily, reports that
(16:21):
go out, our disaster mentalhealth volunteers who are
amazing people come and just.
And say, How are you doing?
And, then I, I'm like, can Ihave a hug?
And I just get the biggest bearhug from these people.
And sometimes it's these menthat are the big burly guys, and
(16:42):
you least expect it, but theygive the best hugs ever.
You know, that energized meenough to just keep going.
And, but.
Even more so, when a clienttells you how thankful they are
for you and hugs you.
I can be up for 48 hours in arow and do what I need to do
(17:05):
based on that because I knowwhat I'm doing is making a
difference.
And that's the kind of thingthat it fills my buckets there's
one story and it was notHurricane Helene.
It was in Houston.
I was walking through one of ourlargest shelters and I was there
to do a whole different job.
I wasn't, I wasn't assigned tothe shelter, but I had to get
(17:26):
there to actually to help,Welcome a congressman who is
visiting, you know, one of the,one of our VIP visitors, we call
them.
And this lady saw me with my RedCross shirt on.
I had my insignia showing andshe said, can I ask you a
question?
And I said, of course.
And she said, I heard that we'regoing to get 300 from the Red
(17:49):
Cross.
And I heard that it, we mightbe, it might be happening, but I
don't know if it really is.
And I said, well, actually, Ihappen to know that it's going
to be turned on today and you'regoing to get 400, not 300.
And she said, Oh, really?
And I said, yes, really?
(18:09):
I've just been in meetings and Iknow.
It's happening this afternoon,so I said, stay tuned, it will
happen.
And she just looked at me andshe said, Oh, thank you.
She said, I just want to go andget some flowers and place them
on my baby's grave.
And that just, I mean, I canfeel the dagger in my heart
right now.
(18:29):
I can just feel it going in.
She's, She had a miscarriagethree days before the hurricane
hit and she had to bury herbaby.
And she wanted to go and putsome flowers.
Well, it was all I could do notto find out where that grave was
and go put some flowers on it.
and I knew I had to keep goingwith my focus.
(18:51):
But she was so grateful and shesaid, can I hug you?
And I said, of course, and wehad the best.
I, I think I've told that storya lot because it was one that
just affected me so much.
She wasn't looking for, someclothing for herself.
She wasn't looking for anythingbig.
She just wanted flowers for herbaby's grave.
(19:14):
And she probably.
went to Walmart and got theflowers and put them on the
grave and it probably made herfeel so much better.
That's the kind of thing thatjust, again, it feels, it fills
my heart.
It fills my bucket.
I can just, I was, I was almostwalking on air after that
because I was there for apurpose and I knew my life is
(19:35):
blessed.
And that's.
All I needed.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Peggy (19:41):
Were there, in addition to this, other moments or
situations where you just feltsome sort of divine
intervention, some unexplainableway that things came together?
Is there a particular story thatyou would share that stands out
to you?
Okay.
Patty Flowers (20:15):
anything about, but I, I've answered when I'm on
a disaster, I answer every phonecall and I answered and it was
this lady in the community.
I, to this day, I don't know howshe found my number.
Our numbers are not out therefor the public.
We give them to certain peopleto say here, call me back on my
number.
But it is not something thatanybody can just find.
(20:36):
She was in the community and shenoticed these three trailer
parks.
There were a lot of trailerparks in the Asheville area in
particular, but in SouthCarolina as well.
But these three trailer parkshad tons of kids, lots of
families.
And she said, well, I've beenfeeding, As much as I can, my
friends and I made 250sandwiches, and we ran out
(21:00):
before we got through the firsttrailer park, and she said, I
just really need someone to helpfeed this area.
And I said, well, of course, ofcourse you do.
And can you tell me exactlywhere they are?
And what she said next was,well, the kids Rely on two of
their meals a day from school,and they hadn't been in school
(21:23):
since the previous Thursday whenthe hurricane hit, and it had
been at least, yeah, exactly.
It had been at least five dayssince they had been in school.
And so everyone, when they sawthese ladies giving out the
sandwiches, they just surroundedtheir cars and they were
thrilled to get what they could.
Well, I worked with her andfound out exactly where these
(21:46):
places were.
And I put in an order forfeeding three times a day.
We went out with snacks, water,uh, cold lunches, hot meals at
night.
Um, we gave out some shelfstable meals, which, you know,
are the kind that you don't haveto do much with.
And if you don't haveelectricity, you don't have to
(22:09):
worry about that.
And they didn't, um, She and Iput it all together and we
started feeding with no end datebecause we didn't know at that
point when it, when theywouldn't need us anymore.
I, again, how did she get myphone number and know that I
could help her?
And that was part of my job.
Actually, what I was doing wastaking requests for feeding or
(22:32):
for shelters or for supplies andsending them to the right place
to get them done.
I, I literally felt chills.
And, figured, oh, this was someant to be, and something
intervened there, some divineintervention happened that
(22:53):
caused us to be able to gettogether quickly and help Before
more of a disaster struck thesepoor people with hunger and,
maybe medication issues, we senta health services person in the
truck with them so that theycould assess if there were any
needs for asthma or diabetes,you know, heart drugs, things
(23:14):
like that.
Um, it, that one in particular,I.
I feel very strongly thatsomething was looking out and
putting us together.
Peggy (23:25):
And that is so powerful.
And these are the stories wedon't get to hear about on the
news very often.
Patty Flowers (23:31):
Right.
Peggy (23:32):
and it's important that people know how those things
work.
And as you've gone through thisexperience, how has your faith
evolved through this work, orhas it challenged your
relationship with God?
Patty Flowers (23:49):
I remain full of faith.
After every disaster, I comeback filled.
I'm exhausted.
Don't get me wrong.
I am always exhausted because wework long days and we are
supposed to have a day off everyseven days, which I try very
hard to do because you do needthat.
But I realized that.
We can get through anything, andwhen I used to work for the Red
(24:12):
Cross, the one thing that keptme up at night Was what if the
Red Cross wasn't here?
How in the world would peopleget through these disasters if
we weren't here?
And that's what kept me sodriven and focused to stay on
track to Raise as much money aswe could to get as many
volunteers as we could.
(24:33):
So honestly, I will have to sayI remain very full of faith and
I can do anything Because I'vegot this whole sisterhood and
brotherhood called the AmericanRed Cross that's out there with
me and we will get the job done.
We will be there and we willstay there until it's, we're not
needed.
Peggy (24:53):
That is so amazing.
Looking back at your journey,what has surprised you the most
about this calling with the RedCross?
Patty Flowers (25:06):
You know, I can't say I've been surprised.
By too many things.
But the thing that does surpriseme is how many disasters we have
now, how large they are, howunusual they are.
and you know, whether youbelieve in climate change or
not, something's occurring thatwe used to have a big disaster
(25:27):
and then we'd have a downtime ofseveral months and then another
one and a downtime.
And of course, we take care ofhome fires as well.
And those are ongoing throughoutthe year.
I don't think I'm surprised bymuch.
I guess it's the only thing Iwill say is that what our
volunteers will do and how muchthey will offer.
(25:49):
And I'm one of them now, so Ican say that as much.
It Is very surprising at times,but there are a lot of people
that dedicate a great amount oftime to helping other people in
this world.
And, I think that's one of thekey messages I like to remember
because, I never knew how muchit was before I started at Red
Cross.
(26:09):
And now I see it every singleday And it, and it continues to
make me awfully happy that wehave that many people, the
helpers as you call them,they're there.
Peggy (26:20):
And they're on the ground and they're helping one hug at a
time.
Patty Flowers (26:25):
One hug at a time, and we'll get through it.
We can do anything.
Mm
Peggy (26:31):
Wow.
So we're coming to the end ofour time together.
But I have one final question.
What is your message to someonewho might be listening and be
wrestling with a call to servein some way or to serve in this
type of capacity?
What would your message be tothem?
Patty Flowers (26:51):
I'm gonna do the old Nike saying, just do it.
And the reason I say that, justdo it.
I can't tell you how much itfills my bucket to do these kind
of things.
And I always have toldvolunteers when I was an
employee, I did it, and I stilldo to this day.
Do what makes you happy.
If you're not enjoying what youdo, stop doing it and look for a
(27:16):
different avenue because we haveso many different choices of
things that you can do to helpothers.
It'll make you realize howblessed your life really is when
you help others that are goingthrough such horrifying times.
It makes you feel good.
And so I, I think that you makefriends.
you will have friends from allover the country because you all
(27:38):
come together to help out at thesame time.
You got to be prepared for thehardships at the same time.
It was like I said, I wassleeping in a trailer for a
while and it was fine.
Please don't get me wrong.
I was grateful to have a bed andwe could close the door and,
hope that the black bearsweren't going to come after us,
but, Sometimes, yeah, sometimesthe hardships really are there,
(28:01):
so be prepared for it, know thatyou might have to wait for a
little while before you get yourassignment, but just do it.
It is so rewarding in the longrun.
I can't tell people enough howmuch it makes a difference in
your life when you dedicate sometime to this.
Peggy (28:20):
Wow.
Thank you, Patty, so much forsharing your story with us
today.
As I mentioned, this issomething that's very near and
dear.
to my heart, my own experienceswith the Red Cross, on the
receiving end of it.
And so.
My heart is just overflowing atgetting this opportunity to
(28:41):
share with the world the workthat you've done and that
demonstrates the goodness that'sin this world and the goodness
in action, even when it feelslike things are hopeless.
So thank you so much.
For being here today.
Patty Flowers (28:57):
Oh, it's my pleasure that you asked me to do
this, and I hope I didn't talktoo much because I can do this
for hours at a time.
Peggy (29:07):
Well, your enthusiasm is evident and your great passion
and love is evident and Icouldn't be more grateful to be
sharing this, the story and toour listeners, if you're
interested in learning moreabout becoming a Red Cross
volunteer, You can visitredcross.org/volunteer, and I
(29:28):
will put a link to this in theshow notes when I published the
episode but i'd like to thankall of you for joining us in
this episode of next door gospeland until next time Remember
that god can use each of us tomake a difference in ways that
we may never have imagined Somay the lord bless you and keep
you and the lord make his faceto shine upon you and be
(29:51):
gracious to you The lord turnhis face towards you and give
you peace Amen
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