COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. - You see them at every disaster across the country -- American Red Cross volunteers, and right now our local chapters need more volunteers to help out right here at home.

"When everybody is rushing out, the Red Cross is rushing in," Debbie Horvath, Collier County Red Cross Chapter C.E.O., says.

When disaster strikes people down, it's the Red Cross that helps pick them up.

"The need seems to be so much greater when you see the Red Cross there," Darlene Jackson, first-time volunteer, says.

Flooding from Tropical Storm Fay forced more than 500 people out of their homes and into a shelter -- run by Red Cross volunteers. It was something Jackson says called out to her to help.

"People are uprooted, they really want to see a kind face, and they want to be assisted in any way they can, and I know I can assist someone somehow," Jackson says.

"We do really care,' Horvath says. "We're there for as long as it takes. We're still in Bonita Springs. We'll be there until the last person leaves."

Our local chapters have a unique problem recruiting volunteers.

"Seventy-five percent of our volunteers are retired. Sometimes they're available, sometimes they're not, some of them have health issues," Horvath says. "We also have a lot of volunteers who are snow birds."

That can make it difficult to staff some shelter operations. It takes 13 people to staff each shelter, and in the case of a massive hurricane, as many as 15 shelters could be open and running.

"At a category 3 -- that's scary stuff," Horvath says of Hurricane Ike, which was headed to Southwest Florida in its original track.

An even stronger storm swayed Denise Rowe into action.

"Right after Wilma -- I helped with Wilma," Rowe says. "In the shelter, there was chaos among the people -- they were scared, and everyone stayed calm and reassuring, and it was such a warm-fuzzy feeling that I wanted to be a part of that."

Whether at home or nationwide, the familiar red and white is reassuring in a time of need. Eighty-seven-year-old Hilda Weber spent three weeks helping flooding victims in Iowa this year.

"There I was with water up to my knees and everything floating away. They had no chance to save anything," Weber describes.

If traveling and sheltering are too much for some people, the Red Cross could constantly use your help right here at home.

Before the start of this school year, the Red Cross outfitted more than 500 homeless children with back to school supplies.

Now volunteers are working to collect supplies to stuff stockings for soldiers over seas.

"Pro or con on the war, we still have to support the men and women who are over there and this is just one small gesture," Rowe says.

Collier County Red Cross volunteers need small nerf footballs, dice, hackey sacks, cards, sunglasses, gum, small puzzle books and monetary donations to help with shipping. You can drop them off at the Naples office at 2610 Northbrooke Plaza Drive until November first.

So when community calls near or far...

"In the middle of the night, weekends, holidays -- it's all volunteers who respond to those things," Horvath says.

They follow in the footsteps of first responders.

"We are always, ALWAYS the last to leave," Horvath says.

Log on to www.redcross.org for information on how to volunteer or call your local Red Cross chapter office.

If you have an idea for a Maggie Monday, please send Maggie Crane an email at maggie.crane@winktv.com.