photo by: Gage Vota

Triadelphia residents affected by the June 14 flash floods submit their case to Tzu Chi USA volunteers to be approved for financial aid through Visa gift cards.

TRIADELPHIA — Residents who were affected by the horrific June 14 flash flood lined the halls of Triadelphia Town Hall on Sunday to receive Visa gift cards from Buddhist organization Tzu Chi USA.

Tzu Chi USA volunteers from all over the Midwest mobilized to come to Triadelphia to provide assistance.Volunteer Teh-hong Lee said that once the organization was made aware of the recent flooding by the American Red Cross and wanted to help the residents affected.

“There are houses that were totally destroyed or have major damage, so we are here bringing donations from our donors and volunteers from all over the world to support the financial need of the family,” Lee said. “We’re going to give out debit cards to the families affected by the flood.”

Volunteer Bornain Chiu added that the organization’s only mission is to help people, and every volunteer ranging from college-age to 70 years old all pay for their own travel when going to disasters throughout the country.

“We came here to provide an opportunity for us to give the love from people around the globe, because all of the money we raise is from a global donation. We try to bring the love here, but at the same time, the most important part is to get the local people together and regroup and regrow,” Chiu said. “That’s the only thing, rebuild. We cannot be here 24/7. Only you, the people here can make a difference. But through this event we can not only bring help but also bring everyone together to make society even better.”

Tzu Chi USA, was established in Alhambra, California in 1989. It began when founder Stephen Huang went seeking personal guidance and visited Dharma Master Cheng Yen in Taiwan.

According to Tzu Chi USA’s website, Huang met a gentle nun who had created a powerful organization, and was able to realize one seemingly impossible dream after another, solely for the benefit of others. Huang then became a disciple and vowed to bring the spirit and mission of Tzu Chi to the United States. He did that by making Tzu Chi USA the first chapter of Tzu Chi overseas.

Sharon Kesselring, executive director of American Red Cross of the Ohio River Valley, added that Tzu Chi and the American Red Cross have a non-governmental organization agreement. She said that means once there is a disaster of a significant scale, after the Red Cross has responded, Tzu Chi can then be called in to see if they would like to provide assistance to the area affected.

“They had an advanced team come into this area. We took them around and explained the situation to them. They took it back to their CEO, who decided yes, they would come into this area,” Kesselring said. “They are here for one day and provide additional financial assistance … that’s based on the Red Cross’ activity of disaster assessments.”

The residents in attendance at the Town Hall have received messaging from the American Red Cross informing them that Tzu Chi would be processing the request for additional financial assistance on Sunday from 11:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. Residents who were notified would be given the opportunity to have their case for additional funding heard.

After residents explain why they need more financial assistance, Tzu Chi volunteers determine the amount of additional financial assistance that the organization will be able to provide them.

Following the quick assessment, the residents then received Visa gift cards and a bamboo blanket.

Kesselring added that if any of the residents affected by the flood can reach out to the American Red Cross of the Ohio River Valley to make an appointment to have its volunteers come out and install brand new smoke alarms free of charge.