ALBANY, N.Y. -- The Capital Region is one of many areas that have stepped up to help out Texas and Louisiana.
"It's a really down to the basics, one full day of training, bring them far enough up to speed that they could actually go out be deployed and help people affected by Hurricane Harvey," said Kimmy Venter, with the American Red Cross.
When the American Red Cross sends out the call, people answer. And when the nation calls, the Red Cross answers. In total, 15 people from Eastern New York have already deployed to Texas. That number will soon grow exponentially.
"In this case, with Harvey, we see now this is a huge disaster. The response is going to go on for months for the Red Cross, overall could be years," said Venter.
The Red Cross is holding Boot Camps Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to give new volunteers a crash course in what they need to know to deploy to this disaster.
"Those functions can vary from shelter work to just being there and helping out in a shelter, help open a shelter, close a shelter, there's feeding, there's health services, there's mental health services," said Amin Choukairi, the American Red Cross Disaster Program manager.
The only requirement to take one of these Red Cross boot camps is to have the ability to deploy for at least two weeks within the next month.
“In terms of background, there is nothing specifically we are calling out for, just the willingness to serve," said Venter.
If you can't commit to a deployment you can still help with monetary donations -- 1-800-RED-CROSS, or by texting the word HARVEY to 90999 to make a $10 donation.