February 8, 2007 – When the tornados hit on Friday, February 2nd, Bill and Carol Davis were in Daytona Beach enjoying their vacation. They were here to enjoy the Daytona 500 Race and to spend time with family and friends. Their relaxing vacation plans changed on February 2nd when three F3 tornados hit Volusia, Seminole, Sumter and Lake Counties resulting in 20 lives being lost and devastating damage to the area. Upon realizing the enormity of the situation, the Davis’s were immediately moved to do something to help.
Carol has a long history with the American Red Cross as a blood donor. She also signed up to be a bone marrow donor and was on the registry for many years. Knowing that the American Red Cross would be helping the victims of the tornados, Carol called the Red Cross Coast to Coast Chapter to see how she and Bill could help. On Sunday they came to the chapter and sign up as volunteers.
Sunday evening their son Mike, who is a pilot with ExpressJet Airlines, flew in to spend some time with his parents and to go to the Daytona 500 Race with his dad. As Mike greeted his parents he asked “what are we doing this weekend”? His parents responded “we’re going down to the Red Cross chapter to help them respond to these tornados. On Monday morning Bill, Carol and Mike reported to the Red Cross.
Bill and Mike, neither of whom are carpenters, stepped in to build a ramp and steps in the back of the Red Cross building to aid in loading and unloading relief supplies. Carol, who is an Attorney in Boston, Mass., went to work coordinating and printing the thousands of copies of documents necessary to run the relief operation.
The Davis family are very special people indeed. Bill and Carol not only gave up part of their vacation to help the victims of this disaster, but they recruited their son Mike to help. The Davis family is indicative of the 436 Red Cross volunteers that are here in Florida helping their neighbors begin the long road to recovery following this life changing disaster. The Davis family is a perfect example of what being a Red Cross volunteer is all about.
All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year, disasters like the tornadoes in Central Florida, by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of disaster. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster please do so at the time of your donation. Call 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, . Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.”
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