1 year ago
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FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - Former Fresno Unified schoolhouse teacher Dana Sakoda says aft teaching successful Fresno for 22 years she inactive had thing wrong of her saying, "you request to assistance folks."
For 2 years, Sakoda volunteered with the American Red Cross arsenic a Shelter Associate, "which means I get to bash a batch of the footwork," Sakoda said.
"Setting up cots, feeding people, answering questions, and I bash a batch of getting folk's accusation and really participate them successful the shelter."
Through the Red Cross, Sakoda says she's traveled crossed the United States helping those affected by earthy disasters. Her adjacent travel volition beryllium to North Carolina to enactment sheltering efforts aft Hurricane Debbie.
Sakoda conscionable got backmost to Fresno from Texas wherever she supported sheltering and betterment efforts for communities affected by Hurricane Beryl and terrible outpouring storms. Sakoda says she chose to specialize successful helping successful shelters arsenic an associate.
"They said, Hey however would you similar to spell thatch small kids?" Sakoda said. She says she winced astatine the idea. "I did that for 22 years, uh no. I privation to bash thing different."
According to Sakoda, her archetypal structure acquisition was during a wildfire successful Mariposa County; the Red Cross was called to assistance radical who had mislaid their homes.
"I met truthful galore bully folks, radical who had wholly mislaid their homes," Sakoda said.
"They're truthful grateful that there's idiosyncratic determination to unfastened up and to springiness them someplace to go, that's the portion that I like."
Sakoda says each catastrophe is different, but each mentation is the same. She gets a telephone from the Red Cross, checks successful with her husband, grabs 1 of her pre-packed bags, collects her ngo card, and leaves.
She says her hubby has ever supported her, letting her absorption connected the past and astir important portion of preparing for her deployment: getting mentally acceptable to spot the disaster.
"I cognize I'm going to spot things that are not nice," Sakoda said. "But you cognize what, that's good with me. I'm determination to assistance folks."
But Sakoda says being acceptable to spot the demolition and really seeing it are 2 antithetic things, arsenic she recalls seeing the devastation successful Hawaii and Lahaina successful 2023.
"I've lived successful Fresno my full life, ne'er experienced thing similar that. You spot what could hap to a full city, and it gives you a heavy sadness," Sakoda said.
"The archetypal clip driving done there, the car was silent."
After the deployment is done Sakoda says she takes her clip to decompress from the 12-hour days, 6 days a week helping people.
"I astir apt bash thing for astir 2 days," Sakoda said. "I benignant of decompress, I play a batch of video games, ticker immoderate TV, and past I lavation each my apparel and get repacked for the adjacent spot I request to go."
Sakoda says it whitethorn not beryllium easy, physically oregon mentally, but until her assemblage won't fto her, she'll support doing everything she can, due to the fact that idiosyncratic has to.
"Somebody's got to bash this and I privation to beryllium that person. I deliberation I'm a bully prime for that."
