Court House Resident Volunteers in Texas

By Tiffany Dunn, for the
Southside Messenger

The 2017 Hurricane season has proved to be an active one causing much devastation to the US, Caribbean and Mexico.  Among all of the sad and tragic stories that are inevitable in destruction such as this, it is refreshing to hear the stories of those that roll up their sleeves and do whatever it takes to help their fellow man.  Bucky Browning of Charlotte Court House is among our local heroes that assisted with clean-up efforts after Hurricane Harvey wreaked havoc on the state of Texas.

Browning, a five-year retiree has always believed in volunteering his time.  It was approximately two years ago that he felt the urge to do something that would ‘really help others.’  After careful research, Browning made the decision to become a volunteer with the American Red Cross.  Browning has been active with the Red Cross for the past two years assisting with such activities as blood drives, disaster drills and a trip in 2016 to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

He received the call in late August regarding a need for help in Texas.

Browning departed from Richmond International Airport on August 25^th, flying to Atlanta and then on to Houston, Texas where he joined his group of approximately 11 volunteers.  Bucky spent his August 27^th birthday traveling through flood waters to Corpus Christi, Texas and outlying communities to distribute food and clean-up supplies such as trash bags, gloves, rakes, etc.  He and his team worked tirelessly for two weeks in heat that Browning described as ‘unreal.’  He states that he was highly impressed with the positive attitude of those individuals that he assisted.  Browning states that he witnessed residents from un-affected areas bringing in donations by the ‘truckload’ to help their fellow Texans.  He also described the attitude of those affected to be one of resilience, appreciation and determination to re-build.

Browning encourages anyone who has the time and desire to do work such as this to become a volunteer through a local church or organization.  He describes his experience with the American Red Cross as good and notes that the sign-up and training is relatively simple and is done mostly online.   From those of us at Southside Messenger and your local community, we say ‘Thank You’ to Bucky and fellow volunteers for all of your efforts.