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‘It’s Devastating’

Dunkirk Native Assists During Catastrophic Wildfires

Justin Kern, a 1998 graduate of Dunkirk High School, is a communications officer for the American Red Cross and spent about two weeks in California as wildfires devastated local communities. Submitted photos

Justin Kern spent about two weeks in California assisting with and helping people recover from the wildfires.

Kern works as a communications officer for the American Red Cross, heading media communications and social media coverage in his area. He currently lives in Milwaukee with his wife working for the nonprofit organization. He is also on a voluntary national team that travels once or twice a year to help with national disasters.

The class of 1998 graduate of Dunkirk High School traveled to northern California recently, volunteering to assist with the fleet of wildfires that have devastated areas in the northern portion of the state.

On Sept. 11, Kern flew to California for a 15 day trip and established a team of volunteers locally and remotely to update social media, help people who were reaching out and making sure partners were getting information as fast as possible. This included doing interviews with national news outlets to let the public know that the Red Cross is there and assisting the victims.

Along with his job, Kern also volunteered his time to drive out to the sites where the victims were sheltering and passed out food and other necessities.

Justin Kern is part of a team that travels to help during national disasters.

“This trip, and all of our trips, have been really huge eye-openers to what natural disasters can do to our world,” Kern said. “It’s devastating to see, and I’m happy that I’m able to help them with my career.”

Being on the job, Kern had the opportunity to speak with other volunteers from all over the country and to speak directly with the victims of the fires. Some people, as Kern explained, don’t even know if their homes are still standing. They just know that they had to evacuate the area and leave everything behind.

A victim of these wildfires in California, Mary Ford, was someone who Kern spoke of fondly. He explained that Ford was devastated, as most would be, that the fires came near her village and that they had to evacuate.

“Mary lived in a village quite similar to Cassadaga, a hilly little village with a lower population,” he said.

“She was devastated knowing that she probably lost her home of 40 years that she had made her own. But as pained as she was about the probable loss of her home and the loss of some pets, she was still grateful to eventually hear that her son was alive, whom she’d lost communication with for about two weeks.”

These stories that Kern shared were especially emotional, knowing that some did not know wether their daughters, sons or other family members were alive or not since they did not have any way to contact them at times.

“I think a lot of times with disasters we don’t see the human aspect of it,” he said. “A lot of time we see the footage of the flames or waves and rising waters. Too often we miss the human part of it and that’s the part that really matters and brings people together.”

The volunteers served more than 300,000 meals to thousands of people who were in emergency shelters. Also, Kern added, about 40 people from the Western New York area also volunteered and ended up taking flights to California to give a hand and help out with the devastating fires. Those interested in volunteering can visit redcross.org to put in an application.

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