Local organizations help hurricane victims - 13abc.com Toledo (OH) News, Weather and Sports

As people along the gulf brace for Hurricane Isaac, local organizations are mobilizing to head south.

"The Red Cross has launched a major relief operation across the gulf states," Jason Copsey, Communications Specialist with the American Red Cross, said.

That's because Hurricane Isaac, a category one storm, is bearing down on several states along the Gulf of Mexico.

"We had nearly 800 people staying in 52 shelters across the states Monday night, we're expecting more evacuation shelters in the coming days," Copsey said.

The American Red Cross has already deployed more than a dozen volunteers.  12, are working in mass care shelters and 4 others are driving emergency response vehicles.  Those volunteers are heading to Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Florida, and Alabama.  And they're not the only ones answering the call.

Members of Memorial Lutheran Church made a stop at ISOH Impact, to pack supplies to send down south.

Director of Operations at ISOH, Lori Kazmierczak said, "This is their second or third time they've been in this year.  They have collected supplies for the bucket brigade, so they're here to help process those, pack those, and get ready to go."

ISOH has been prepared for this since the beginning of hurricane season.  In fact, its already sent food, cleaning supplies, and personal care items to the coast.

"With a hurricane, sometimes its difficult to predict so we have been on the phone with our network of partners to figure out where the assistance is needed and what we can send to help," Kazmierczak said.