For anyone finding themselves in the midst of a natural disaster, the Estevan Red Cross is ready to help them out.

"We provide assistance at the time of an event if somebody has to leave their home," explained Melanie Horton Community Outreach Coordinator. "We make sure they have shelter, whether that be at a hotel or finding them suitable accommodations while they are out of their home. We help them with food as well and clothing, if they've lost clothing in the disaster. And then moving forward, when they're trying to get back into their own homes, we can assist with some things like minor repairs and making it easier for them to get back into their homes."

"We respond to disasters such as floods that we've seen down in the south corner and if anyone has had a house fire. We provide assistance for 72 hours following a personal disaster. Your basic necessities like food, clothing, and shelter. And then we also help assist people in forest fire evacuations."

She adds that the support they receive from the Estevan United Way is very important to their operations. 

"It's very critical for us. We can't operate without donations from donors and Estevan Telethon has always been a huge supporter of Red Cross and we really appreciate it. We aren't able to operate without the donations we receive."

She added that the funds they receive will likely go towards training new volunteers.

"We're always looking at recruitment and getting more volunteers in the community that we're active in. We also have our respect education which we do Pink Day every year. It's a Stand up to Bullying event and Estevan has always been very active in that."

The United Way Telethon starts tomorrow at 8 am and will run for 33 consecutive hours.