By Frederic Klein

When you walk into the emergency shelter at Calvary Baptist Church, you might feel like you have instead walked into a summer camp. You will see kids running around the middle of an open gymnasium, a pile of used box forts sitting happily behind a pile of books and toys, the jubilation acting in stark contrast to the sobering reality of why dozens of people and pets were staying there in the first place. Their homes had been flooded after extreme weather brought heavy rain into eastern Texas – especially along the Trinity River.

On a recent day, there was a game of ring around the rosy, likely led (if not instigated) by former kindergarten librarian and Red Cross volunteer Erin Funk. A few of the adult residents had joined in the fun alongside younger ones, each only momentarily facing the scattered assortment of personal belongings they were able to grab before being displaced by floodwaters from their Liberty County homes a few days earlier.

For Gunner Brewster, the only treasured possession he had with him was a turtle bracelet containing around a dozen delicately carved turquoise turtles. Gunner also happens to have a pet turtle, Katrina, named after the hurricane from which she was originally rescued, who was waiting for him to return home. He raced up to Erin, urgency pressed into his face as he quietly showed her something held in his hand. She returned the urgency, and the two quickly disappeared into the kitchen area.

Gunner’s bracelet had broken, and his hands had contained a pile of his turtles. Luckily for him, he knew someone who knew how to repair bracelets.

Sure enough, Erin helped Gunner fix his bracelet and a grin returned to his face. They made another bracelet with leftover supplies, and happiness had returned to the emergency Red Cross shelter at Calvary Baptist Church.

“These kids here are absolutely the best,” said Erin. “They can find little friendships anywhere. They just have so much hope and it’s great to keep the hope alive. They like to play, they like bonding and connecting, and it brings me joy and it brings them joy.”

The work of the American Red Cross is powered by volunteers like Erin. Put on a red vest and help neighbors in need by going to www.redcross.org/volunteer.