Mary Hoffer had 24 hours to pack and catch a flight once she committed Monday morning to a volunteer deployment to Colorado. “You don’t get much time to prepare,” she said. Her flight left this morning at 10 a.m. Hoffer, 36, of Warsaw, works as a registered nurse at Miller’s Merry Manor in Warsaw and has been a volunteer for the Kosciusko County Red Cross for over two years. Today’s deployment – to aid in relief efforts for Colorado flooding – will be her third in 14 months. In January 2012, she deployed to New York City in relief of Superstorm Sandy. Earlier this year, she deployed to Colorado in relief of the wildfires. But it was the 2011 tsunami in Japan that made her want to get involved. “It can be rather sad out there,” Hoffer said. “It’s kind of humbling.” Hoffer will be deployed for a two-week period in Colorado serving as a staff wellness nurse. She said there are two branches for Red Cross nursing volunteers – nursing for disaster victims and nursing for other volunteer workers and staff members. Other volunteer workers have their own medical needs, so it will be Hoffer’s job to tend to them and offer the other volunteers some comfort. “When you are away from home and you can’t come home to your loved ones, it is really stressful to be gone,” she said. The Associated Press reported that in Boulder alone, the recent storm system dropped a record 9 inches between Wednesday and Thursday evenings last week, smashing the old record of 4.3 inches. By the end of last week, Boulder County had as much as 15 inches in some areas. Mountain topography channeled all the water into a handful of narrow, steep canyons that concentrate the rushing runoff, giving it the strength to push cars, boulders and even buildings out of the way. Colorado now faces a long recovery from widespread devastation and four people have been confirmed dead. Hoffer said volunteering after this kind of disaster gives her a sense of appreciation. “You go out there and see all this devastation, all those things you take for granted,” she said. “It is kind of renewed in my mind that I am a really fortunate person.” To donate to the Red Cross, go to www.redcross.org/charitable-donations or text “REDCROSS” to 90999 to give $10.
