April 24, 2002

April 24, 2002

Margaret Check talks about her efforts with the American Red Cross
In the wake of the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, there have been numerous heroes and heroines from all walks of life and associated with many different organizations.
One such heroine with ties to the Prairie du Chien area is Margaret Check of rural Eastman.
Check, who works for the Disaster Services Human Resource arm of the American Red Cross, went to Washington D.C. shortly after the attack.
She spent three weeks in the nation's capital helping victims of the attack and then had two three-week stays in New York City to assist victims there.
"I loved it. I loved the people I was working with," said Check, who worked with Red Cross volunteers from throughout the nation and the world.
As a specialist with family service, Check assisted families in Washington and New York, who needed money to find a place to live, to pay the rent, to pay hospital bills and a variety of other expenses.
"It was terrible, you could really relate to what the clients would tell you," said Check, in explaining that she documented records and  gave away "lots and lots of money" to those in need.
She told of one very emotional client, who had worked near the World Trade Center. When the first plane hit, he immediately dashed outside to find his twin brother, who also worked nearby. The two men ran smack into each other, embraced and ran for cover as the towers began to collapse.
Another of Check's clients was a woman who seemed in a calm, yet dazed state several weeks after the disaster, still in denial about her husband's death. Despite the horrible fact that the woman's husband worked on one of the top floors of the World Trade Center, she told the Red Cross workers that her husband was alive, just wandering around New York somewhere and she was waiting for him to return.
Mental health professionals worked with the woman, but could not convince her.
In the face of countless human tragedies, Red Cross volunteers such as Check, with the help of people from around the globe, are able to give at least give some relief.
"I feel I've done a good job of helping people," she said. "You have to do something."
In New York, Check worked 11-hour days in a huge, huge building at Pier 94, interviewing victims of the disaster. During her second three-week stay in New York, she worked out of a large art gallery closing the numerous cases.
"The people were so very appreciative, good and kind,"  she said of the victims and New Yorkers in general. Check related, of how upon receiving her money, one woman began sobbing.
"I asked her why she was crying," Check said. "And she told me 'I'm crying because I'm so happy.""
People representing more than 190 different nationalities live in New York City and Check said that interpreters were often used as a valuable tool to gather information from victims. She said that in many cases, however, there were no interpreters for a particular language, but that through gestures, she was able to figure out what the client was telling her.
Although Check needed a while to become adjusted to life in The Big Apple, she said that she didn't waste a minute while she was there.
Some of the places she visited on her off time included: St. Patrick's Cathedral, where she heard the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra give a free concert; Coney Island for the famous hotdogs; and the Brooklyn Bridge.
Check said that she and another Red Cross worker also crashed the St. Patrick's Day Parade, walking for a couple of blocks with an Irish group and waving to the thousands of people lining the street.
"There are so many people and they are so kind," she said. "I think they've changed, (since the disaster)."
One New York City security person gave her a an egg sculpture as a remembrance, saying that it was so sweet that Check called her husband John the first thing each morning before beginning her duties.
Check said she wouldn't be able to work for the Red Cross if it weren't for the support of her husband.
Having been with the Red Cross since 1996, Check has helped out at numerous disaster areas, some of which include last year's flood in Prairie du Chien, Montana after a wild fire, Oakfield, Wis. after a tornado, San Juan, Puerto Rico after Hurricane George, North Carolina after Hurricane Floyd and South Dakota after a flood.
"I found I was needed," said Check of why she got into the Red Cross. "It really gets into your blood."

Carl DuCharme shares NYC experiences following Sept. 11
Carl DuCharme says the three weeks he spent in New York City working as a Red Cross volunteer last fall were emotionally and physically draining, but spiritually uplifting.
DuCharme, a 1992 Prairie du Chien High School graduate who now lives near Green Bay, says his farm background growing up near Eastman is a perfect fit with being a Red Cross Volunteer. "We improvised everyday," he says with a smile.
When he moved to Green Bay in 1999 one of the first things he did was join the Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity.
His first jobs as a volunteer were quite simple ó working locally promoting the Red Cross at booths at the fair and such.
He later joined the disaster action team, which always has someone on call to handle emergencies such as gas leaks, tornado or fires ó anything which could displace a fire.
He became more and more involved, and soon became a lead member with the disaster action team and joined the National Response Team, a nationwide volunteer disaster network through the Red Cross.
Each member of the national network is assigned a certain function. There are 23 specialty teams and members can train in as many areas as they wish.
DuCharme was a volunteer in Siren for three weeks last summer, helping following the devastating tornados. He was a mass care worker, which mostly deals with food and supplies for workers and those affected.
DuCharme graduated from UW-Platteville with a degree in Industrial Engineering, and is a planner with the Paper Converting Machine Company. He had made arrangements with his employer to be absent from his job for up to three weeks at a time each year. Since he spent time volunteering in Siren he wasn't planning on doing another three week stint again last year. Then Sept. 11 happened.
He was in New York within a week of the terrorist attacks. He said the plane was not anywhere near capacity on his way there, and he could see the smoke rising from the World Trade Center site.
In New York he was assigned as a family services specialist, a position which deals directly with families.
He started his work at a calling center for the first day or two, but was then transferred to a special projects team which dealt directly with families of emergency services personnel who died.
"Every case was so different" DuCharme says. He said that the firefighters have a strong code of ethics, and they not only take care of each other, they take care of each other's families. In some cases there were more firefighters gone from a department than there were surviving. Those left were trying to help the families of those who were gone, trying to find their friends in the rubble and helping out the relief centers. "They were walking zombies," he said.
He was part of a team of eight volunteers from across the nation which dealt with emergency workers' families. He personally dealt with ten to 15 families a day, one on one.
Although he didn't work near ground zero, he did go near the site each day on his way from the motel to the relief center. He has a hard time describing what it was like there. 
He noted that the area impacted was huge. The Trade Center complex encompasses 16 square acres. The pile from the twin towers was 12 stories deep. There were 18 buildings affected, at least eight of which were destroyed.
The Red Cross' efforts following Sept. 11 were massive. In addition to New York City and Washington, they had volunteer teams in each location where the plane had taken off from, where the planes were supposed to land, and most major cities where travelers were stranded. DuCharme did work in Green Bay at first with stranded travelers.
DuCharme noted that there were so many different needs of the victims some had lost their loved ones, some had lost their homes and some had lost their jobs.
He is still on call on a local level with the Red Cross at least once a month.
ìThis is just amazing work," he says. "It puts everything into perspective. I will be doing this for a long, long time."
He is the youngest of nine children of Richard and Janette DuCharme.

TO LEARN MORE about becoming a volunteer with the American Red Cross, contact the Scenic Bluffs Chapter of the American Red Cross at (608)788-1000.
Last years in the United States, more than 175,000 volunteers assisted with more than 64,000 disasters.

Martin, Kalinowski named top River Ridge students
River Ridge High School has announced that the valedictorian of the 2002 graduating class is Katie L. Martin, daughter of Randy and Deb Martin of Bagley.
The salutatorian is Nicole L. Kalinowski, daughter of Michael and Carol Kalinowski of Bagley.
Martin is active in publications, sports, student government and vocal music. She is a member of the yearbook and newspaper staffs, volleyball and basketball teams, choir, show choir, triple trio, women's chorus, art club, Friends Helping Friends and the National Honor Society. She is vice-president of the student council and secretary of the biology club, was a state solo and ensemble medallist for three years, was a Dorian Choral Festival participant, a member of the honors chorus for two years, was selected second team all-conference basketball this year, and is listed in Who's Who Among American High School Students.
In community activities, Martin is a member of the 4-H, Grant County Holstein Association and summer basketball and volleyball leagues. She has taught Bible School, worked as a teacher's aide, participated in National Honor Society service projects and did presentations for the Friends Helping Friends group. She was also a track meet worker and helped keep varsity football statistics.
She plans to attend the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at UW-Madison.
Kalinowski is active in sports, student government and publications. She is a member of the volleyball, basketball and softball teams, newspaper and yearbook staffs, art club, Friends Helping Friend and the National Honor Society.
She is president of both the student council and the biology club, a co-captain of the basketball, volleyball and softball teams this year and was chosen all-conference in volleyball and basketball, was a member of the Junior Prom Court and is listed in Who's Who Among American High School Students. I
In community activities, she has taught religion classes, helped coach third and fourth graders in summer softball, worked as a teacher's aide, participated in the National Honor Society Adopt - a- Highway cleanup and bingo at Orchard Manor projects, and as a presenter for the Friends Helping Friends group.
Kalinowski plans to attend UW-La Crosse to pursue a career in athletic training.