Johnie Williams is a volunteer’s volunteer.

Williams, a Bath resident, was scheduled to fly out of Greenville this morning en route to Colorado to serve as an American Red Cross volunteer. Her mission is to help other Red Cross volunteers working directly with flood victims. After arriving at Denver, she was expecting to travel to Fort Collins.

Williams also serves on the Red Cross’ Greater Pamlico Area Chapter’s local emergency-response team.

The American Red Cross is supporting rescue operations in Colorado by providing shelter, food, relief supplies and comfort to thousands of people forced from their homes by flash flooding. As many as 500 people stayed in 14 shelters Monday night in Colorado. More than 400 trained disaster workers are staffing shelters and evacuation centers. The Red Cross has mobilized more than 20 response vehicles and six truckloads of relief supplies.

Williams, a staffing volunteer, expects to be in Colorado for about three to four weeks. Williams said two other Red Cross volunteers from eastern North Carolina, a woman from Rocky Mount and a man from Wilmington, are joining her in Colorado

Williams’ first experience as a Red Cross volunteer came in 2005, when she responded to the Hurricane Katrina disaster along the Gulf Coast. She was in Colorado a few months ago as a volunteer helping during the time wildfires ravaged areas around Colorado Springs.

“Right now, what’s going on is sheltering, bulk distribution. There are damage-assessment people who are finally out. They’ll go out and locate where shelters are needed, where supplies are needed, where food is needed,” Williams said. “These are emergency needs. It goes, eventually, into long-term recovery, but right now we’re trying to give the people a place to stay, a safe place to stay, supplies that they need, food that they need.”

Williams is less of a front-line volunteer and more of a support volunteer.

“I actually work in staffing. I work at headquarters. The volunteers go out to help clients, and the staffing volunteers are there to help the volunteers. I mainly will be working in lodging. There’s probably 300 or 400 hundred volunteers on the ground right now, with it really being ramped up because (flood victims) are just getting back with the roads situation. There will be more and more volunteers coming in. So, staffing, we take care of the volunteers.”

Williams said she would be seeking lodging for Red Cross volunteers, either at staff shelters or hotels.

Williams said the Red Cross has nurses that look after the staff’s wellness, health-services personnel who take care of clients and staff-relations personnel who handle any staff-related problems that arise.

Williams said she became interested in becoming a Red Cross volunteer after she the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.

“I watched TV. I was retired, and I said, ‘You know, I can do this. I could help.’ So, I walked into the office and they said, ‘Take this video home and look at it.’ Then, about three days later, I was on an airplane to Montgomery, Ala., with thousands of other volunteers. I knew nothing — trial by fire. I came away with that desire to be a disaster volunteer. I love it. I’m not sure of the number, but I think this may be my 32^nd or 33^rd disaster that I have been deployed to.”