A house went up in smoke, leaving a family scared and shocked.  

After the 911 call went through, a beeper went off in a small office on the corner of Bayview Avenue and Mulock Drive in Newmarket. A Red Cross personal disaster assistance team rushed to the scene.

“People think of the Red Cross, and they think outside Canada,” said Beverly Verwey, the disaster management co-ordinator of the York Region Red Cross branch.

This was National Volunteer Week and Zohreh Zand received the Red Cross Service Award for her volunteering efforts over the past 14 years. She is an example of the Red Cross mission statement, to improve the lives of the vulnerable, Mrs. Verwey said.

“She’s humble and this award is well deserved. She demonstrates the international principals how we deliver the programs and services of the Red Cross.”

It was Mrs. Zand who arrived at the house fire with comfort kits, blankets and water.

A victim of the house fire didn’t speak English, so Mrs. Zand, wearing the trusted red vest, spoke up and acted as translator. She calmed the woman and explained the situation.

“Someone talked to her. It was comforting to her,” Mrs. Zand said. “We were there.”

The Red Cross responds to more than 2,000 disasters a year, said Mrs. Verwey, who has been with the Canadian Red Cross for 37 years.

Personal disasters, where one to 50 people are evacuated, include fires, floods, hurricanes and earthquakes.

Red Cross provides immediate relief up to 72 hours after a situation and gives out comfort kits with personal hygiene items, blankets and colouring books and teddy bears to children.

The organization also sets victims up with hotel accommodation and provides them with resource avenues of other services to help them deal with the situation.

Mrs. Zand, from King City, has been a member of the Red Cross PDA for 14 years. Her father was a member of the Red Lion/Red Sun in Iran.

She joined the Canadian Red Cross a few years after arriving in Canada.

“As a new immigrant, I wanted to learn about my community,” Mrs. Zand said. “That’s what I learned from my family, how to help people. And that’s what I want my family, now, to learn.”

Mrs. Zand and other Red Cross PDA members also provided relief to thousands of York Region residents quarantined during the SARS outbreak in 2003.

The York Region branch worked with local municipalities and the City of Toronto to deliver medical equipment and food to those quarantined.

“You come home tired and cold,” Mrs. Zand said. “But you get a warm feeling inside.”

Although Mrs. Zand has a family of her own and a full-time job, bringing a little comfort to distraught disaster victims always proves a priority.

For her, it’s a sense of inner growth and learning something from the victims.

“When I come back from a disaster, I look at my family and appreciate them,” she said. “Of course, I’m grateful when no calls come in — there’s no disaster for other people.”

Amanda Persico is a journalism co-op student from Centennial College