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American Red Cross Each day following the disaster saw American Red Cross mobile feeding vans travelling into the Big Thompson Canyon to offer food and drink to victims and relief workers. Photo by John DeHaven. -' For Fast Fast Fast Relief As is the case in every natural disaster of the kind which struck Colo. rado's Big Thompson Canyon, the American Red Cross was on the scene quickly and assumed its customary role as provider of emergency assistance to individuals and families. Representatives of the Larimer County Red Cross Chapter with support from the Rocky Mountain Division headquarters in Denver set up an emergency assistance center at the Loveland High School early Sunday. When the magnitude of the disaster became apparent, additional assist- ance was requested from Red Cross National Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Disaster specialists from California, Minnesota, Montana and Washington were flown in to assist the local chapter's relief efforts. By Wednesday, August 4, twenty- seven Red Cross staff members were in place at the high school building in Estes Park, the court house in Fort Collins and the major assistance center at Van Buren Elementary School in Loveland. The number of Red Cross volunteers peaked at fifty-seven on August 4 and 5, although more than 300 different people 34 volunteered their time to the Red Cross effort during the first two weeks of the relief effort. The work of the Red Cross may be divided into two major areas. These are direct assistance to individuals and families and mass care. Direct assistance is usually in the form offood; new clothing and shelter. . .things needed immediately by disaster victims. These needs are determined during the process of a casework interview, con- ducted in most instances by trained volunteers. Direct assistance also in- cluded such items as eyeglasses, false teeth, and cash for replacing prescrip- tion medicine. In the early days of the relief operation, Red Cross also made arrangements for many transient flood victims to return to their home towns in many parts of the country. Mass care assistance provided by the Red Cross included procuring necessary food items and staffing the canteen at the Van Buren schoo\. This facility provided food and beverages at no cost to victims visiting the center as well as to staff and volunteers affil- iated with the Red Cross and the many agencies of the Federal Disas- ter Assistance Administration. The canteen also served hot evening meals to as many as fifty Mennonite Disaster Service workers. This group was headquartered at Van Buren, and the workers returned there each night after working in the flood area. [n addition, Red Cross conducted two