Carol Helmick has seen worse. But the Montgomery resident found plenty to do when she joined the American Red Cross' response to the Seattle earthquake on Friday.

        “We're going out and seeing that all the needs are being met and we're doing a lot of mental health work,” she said Saturday.

        Ms. Helmick, 31, markets health and safety programs to schools for the Cincinnati chapter. She's in Washington State as a hybrid: Red Cross employee on salary but volunteer after hours and on weekends.

        Ms. Helmick is working sunup to sundown, but she must abstain from the omnipresent Red Cross coffee pot.

        “I gave up caffeine for Lent and can you believe I'm in the caffeine capital of the world?”

        She coordinates trained volunteers from three Seattle-area Red Cross chapters plus untrained “walk-ins.”

        She is one of about 200 Red Cross employees and volunteers who have gone to the quake area.

        Few people have been displaced, she said, but many welcome Red Cross explanations of available aid.

        In the Tristate, the Salvation Army is accepting money but not clothing or anything else that can be purchased in Seattle.

        Checks for “Seattle Earthquake” should be sent to The Salvation Army, Box 596, Cincinnati 45201. Online donations may be made at www.salvationarmy-usaeast.org. Additional information will be posted there on the news page.

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