Alstonville's Kerry Grey has seen more tornados, floods and bushfires in her 40 years as a volunteer than she probably cares to remember.
That's why as a powerhouse Red Cross volunteer in our local community she's been flat out since the February 28 floods.
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She is currently doing outreach work with her volunteer team in the flood affected areas of Lismore and surrounds.
Kerry described how some people in the area had been through a vicious cycle of successive disasters.
"I haven't really stopped since the week of the 28th," she said.
"The Thursday before that I was out with the health clinicians doing bushfire recovery, so that is still happening.
"Some people have been through drought, bushfires and then floods. Some people have been whammied again in some places."
The size and scale of the floods on the Northern Rivers has shocked Kerry, who's also previously provided flood relief at Gatton and Grantham in Queensland.
"If you look at a map from the air, the area covered by the flood is absolutely massive," she said.
"I don't think people anywhere else can visualise what it is like here on the ground.
"You need to smell it and see it and drive and drive and still you see areas that are flooded and it is still horrendous.
"It is just one foot in front of the other and a lot of people are not doing so well.
"I don't think anyone is on top of the world. A lot of people are really, really struggling."
One of her first jobs with the Australian Red Cross was greeting Vietnamese refugees as they got off the plane.
Kerry said many of the refugees arrived in Australia with nothing more than a small plastic bag of possessions.
She remembers one little boy needed to go to the toilet before he boarded a bus to begin his new life.
"I couldn't go into the men's toilets so I asked this man if he would take the boy in," she recalled.
"They were in there for ages and I started to worry but after a long time they came out laughing. The little boy had never seen a flush toilet, let alone a urinal."
She admits that once you begin volunteering it gets in your blood and you "just can't stop".
Her 40 years with the Red Cross was highlighted during National Volunteer Week, which was celebrated last week.
The Red Cross has copped some criticism for the roll out of funds after the bushfires and recent floods.
As a volunteer, who has given her time for nothing but the occasional pat on the back, the criticism hurts.
"I can point you to people who have built houses with money they have received from Red Cross, I can't tell you who they are because of privacy reasons, but on Facebook you only seem to read about the bad stories instead of the good stories," she said.
"I don't know whether it is people who perhaps didn't qualify who started rumours, but I can tell you it hurts the volunteers. I have had a lot of them in tears because of the abuse they have had online, its awful.
"No one has ever said it to my face, perhaps I am too old a lady to abuse. I don't know, really."
So why does she keep doing it?
"It's that old saying, you ask the busiest person if you want a job done," she said.
"I am not a sitter, I need to be doing things."
I'm a media professional with over 34 years of experience in public relations and journalism, including a decade setting Lismore's news agenda as the editor of The Northern Star. I have proven track record in growing audiences and improving engagement by delivering quality local stories for and about the Lismore community.
I'm a media professional with over 34 years of experience in public relations and journalism, including a decade setting Lismore's news agenda as the editor of The Northern Star. I have proven track record in growing audiences and improving engagement by delivering quality local stories for and about the Lismore community.
