Ira and Ginny Haas, of Connecticut, are one couple who went to neighborhoods in Springfield with items like rakes and work gloves.
Ira Haas, right, a volunteer with the Pioneer Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross, hands out supplies to, from left, Char Chabot, Donnell McClendo, Jose Caravallo and Kevin Howard, on Fayette Street in Springfield.SPRINGFIELD – Ira and Ginny Haas slowly wove their American Red Cross truck through the blasted streets of the East Forest Park neighborhood Monday offering shovels, work gloves, water - and a sympathetic ear.
The retired Connecticut couple are part of an American Red Cross volunteer force of about 200 helping out in wake of the three tornadoes that ravaged the region last Wednesday.
The devastation here bordered on the surreal but the Haases say they draw strength from helping others.
“That is an incredible experience that most people don’t get to see,” Ginny Haas said. “This mass amount of love – it feeds us.”
One of their stops was near 26 Louise St. where they handed over a pair of badly-needed rakes and work gloves to the thankful homeowner, Christopher Gagne.
“Everybody has been helpful to each other,” Gagne said. “It’s been really good around here."
Gagne, who weathered the tornado in his basement, said his home is currently uninhabitable.
“There are trees everywhere, Gagne said, raising his voice against the sound of a chain saw suddenly fired up next door. “Windows are broken.”
Gagne said he is currently living with his father, James Gagne, who brought along a rake of his own to help clean his son’s property.”
From there, the Haases made their way to Judith Street, where they stopped and talked a bit with Jim Rooney, who stood next to his ruined pickup truck and a lawn dominated by four massive oak stumps.
Rooney, and just about everybody else the couple met along the way, had a story to tell. Rooney, for example, said he is one of the few on his street with a habitable home.
“It’s eerie,” Rooney said of the nights in his neighborhood. “There are no lights.”
Ira and Ginny Haas say that listening to those stories is just as important as handing out rakes, tarps and water, “It’s part of the healing process,” Ira Haas said.
While the Haases were making their rounds in East Forest Park, Walter Wasowski and Alan Binaghi, of Rhode Island and New Jersey, respectively, were doing the same thing in the shattered Merrick Section of West Springfield.
“It’s pretty rugged,” said Wasowski, who has taken a combination of vacation time and personal time from his job in the pharmaceuticals industry to come here.
Wasowski said he believes that a number of the Merrick residents are still in shock over the fast-moving horror that devastated their neighborhood. “You just try to give to them whatever help you can,” he said.
One of those who flocked to the truck to get a rake and other supplies were Gary Roy, who lives at 28 Spring St. “It’s a sight for sore eyes,” Roy said of the Red Cross truck.
“Everybody is just doing a great job,” said Jeffrey MacKenzie, of 40 Spring St. “We are very thankful that people are sticking together and helping out those in need.”
Melanie McDonough, who hails from Greensboro, North Carolina, and serves as the American Red Cross media coordinator for the ongoing relief effort, said others in the field include teams of case workers, mental health workers and health care workers.
“Even though people are very stoic, it may take them a couple of days to realize the full implications,” McDonough said of those who live in - or have been displaced from - the devastated areas. “We want to make sure we take care of the whole person, not just the inside, not just the outside.”
American Red Cross personnel will continue the bulk distributions Tuesday in the Island Pond Road area, Merrick Section of West Springfield and in Monson in the neighborhood around First Church.
As Monday, the American Red Cross has more than 1,200 overnight stays in shelters, served more than 8,416 meals, McDonough said.
The best way to aid the Pioneer Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross is through monetary donations, McDonough said, adding that the chapter continues to help those suffering from other local disasters as well, including 9 people that were displaced from a apartment complex fire on Essex Street in Holyoke early Monday.
Donations may be sent to the Pioneer Valley Chapter: 506 Cottage St., Springfield, 01104. Phone (413) 737-4306. Donations also can be made online.