To help comfort and aid residents in the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast, Red Cross volunteers are moving into the area, nearly two dozen of whom are from Maryland.
Volunteer Sandra Krause traveled to Louisiana when Hurricane Katrina ravaged people's homes and destroyed lives.
"Walls were gone. Boats were on top of one another. It was really, really awful. There were many times -- believe me -- that I cried when I went out in the field," she told 11 News reporter Kai Reed.
Krause and fellow volunteer Paula Boxler, a nurse, are now traveling together to the Gulf Coast to help people recover from Hurricane Isaac.
"It is just pack and go. You don't know where you're going to be assigned. You don't know what you're going to see. I don't know what kind of disease processes I'm going to see," Boxler said.
"You have to not only worry about the food, but the water, towels, the cots -- just everything that a person will need in a shelter for probably several weeks," Krause said.
Both women spent weeks assisting in shelters during Hurricane Katrina, providing food and medical care for hundreds of evacuees. They'll find out where they'll be assigned for Isaac once they land in Texas and join 20 other Maryland volunteers.
The Red Cross has 290,000 meals ready to go, and emergency response vehicles are packed with supplies.
"Food, clothing and shelter are the three most important things. So, if we can just give them a shoulder to lean on. … The Red Cross sometimes provides little Mickey Mouse toys to the kids just to make them feel like there is light at the end of the tunnel," Krause said.
"My goal is just to make a difference in someone's life while I'm there," Boxler said.
"We're ready to go. The rest of the supplies we'll pick up when we get there," Krause said.