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Mason woman joins Hurricane Florence relief effort

Posted at 6:33 AM, Sep 14, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-14 06:33:38-04

A mason woman is packing her bags to fly out with the Red Cross for Hurricane Florence relief.

FOX 47 News' Cryss Walker spoke with her about why she joined the effort.

Trudy Schutte is a woman with many titles.

She's a mother, a grandmother and now a retired empty-nester looking to devote her time serving others.

“I think people volunteer because it makes them feel good”, Schutte said.

“Not only will I feel good, others feel good. It's nice to help people who don't have as much as you do or who has lost everything.”

Friday morning Schutte will board a plane headed to North Carolina to embark on a mission she says she's always wanted to do.

“I taken all the training and everything so when I knew this hurricane was coming and my family obligations are cooled down at this time, I want to go”, Schutte explained.

The grandmother is set to join 1,500 disaster workers to help the American Red Cross provide food, shelter and other resources to thousands of people in need of relief.

Although this will be her first deployment, Schutte says she hopes it's the first of many.

“When people are down, you just want to hug them and give them a hand up so that they can get back on their feet”, Schutte told Cryss Walker.

According to the American Red Cross, almost 7,000 people were housed Wednesday night in over 100 community shelters in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

The Red Cross says it has more than 80 emergency response vehicles and dozens of trailers filled with equipment and relief supplies.