BANGOR, Maine — As Hurricane Milton approaches Florida, the American Red Cross is organizing volunteers, shelters, and relief supplies.
Among those taking off to help are volunteers from Maine, including American Red Cross volunteer John Lee who just departed from Bangor International Airport earlier Tuesday afternoon.
"In these times of need, we need to come together, help each other, help our neighbors, and provide that compassionate empathetic care we all know we can," Lee said.
He is one of a handful of volunteers from Maine deploying to Florida to work in evacuation and emergency shelters over the next two weeks to help people forced to leave their homes because of the storm.
"You go into these situations thinking that you can hopefully change the world, but really you just want to change the day for that one person," Lee said.
According to the American Red Cross, there are over 2,000 people with the organization working across several southeastern states to support those impacted by Hurricane Helene while also preparing for Hurricane Milton.
"It’s really inspirational to watch our volunteers pack and leave absolutely everything, their lives, their families, their jobs, and off they go to support our neighbors in the southeast," Caroline King, the executive director of Red Cross in Northern and Eastern Maine, said.
For over a century, the organization has been supporting communities with disaster relief, and now they are making it their mission to help those ahead of Milton's landfall.
She said with Florida still recovering from Hurricane Helene and now bracing for Milton, volunteers make all the difference.
"You may not be able to go to Florida and help out, but there [are] people right here in Maine that need help as well," Lee said.
If you would like to help support those affected, click here.