With busy families and numerous social activities in Lake Wildwood, it is amazing that residents make so much time to volunteer. Hurricane relief is no exception.

Saundra and Vince Mutascio decided to collect hearing aids and eyeglasses that are still in good working order. Call Saundra at 432-5966 if you have items to donate. She plans to get everything cleaned up, labeled and shipped sometime next week.

Six-year-old Brie Parker also wanted to help out. A first-grader at Williams Ranch School, she made and sold original crayon art to her LWW neighbors and friends and was able to add $46 to the "Hurricane Katrina" jar in her classroom.

Joyce Kaplan, a LWW resident since 1982, just returned from a three-week assignment as a Red Cross volunteer. Starting out in Miami, Joyce drove the Emergency Response Vehicle to Tylertown, Miss., where her job was to provide food and water to people left stranded. In this small town about 90 miles north of New Orleans, several hundred trees fell and the town was without power or phones.

Joyce noted that there were about 125 rescue workers staying at the local Southern Baptist Church including Red Cross volunteers, electricians, tree cutters, and other Southern Baptists who drove in to help. All slept on the floor throughout the church. Joyce did say that after sleeping on the floor all night in the church nursery, the combination of stiff joints and very low kiddy potties was a new challenge for her.

After 11 years of Red Cross work, including work at Ground Zero in NYC, Joyce noted that this is the worst devastation she has ever seen and many in Tylertown will be without power for another month.

Nancy Tipton of LWW has worked with the local Red Cross for 12 years. Currently, she is teaching classes to new volunteers who will be asked to make a 3-week commitment to help out with shelter operations. So far, about 33 new volunteers have left for the hurricane area with a few more to follow. Nancy will go in October.

Sheila Furth, a new Red Cross volunteer and a six-year LWW resident, left for Houston last Friday. She was prompted to volunteer after seeing the devastation on TV and said that she knew she would always regret if she did not help.

With a long background in psychology, Sheila has also done life coaching for women for the last four years. Her experience helping women rebuild their lives could be a real asset. As a volunteer she may be called on to offer mental support to shelter staff as well as adult and child victims. Sheila is also prepared to sweep floors or do whatever is needed to help out.

Sheila mentioned two things that stood out in the training. First, she felt that anyone could do the training and be an asset. Second, she was surprised to see that 4 of the 7 volunteers in her class were single moms with teens at home. For these women, a very busy schedule was no excuse not to help.

Sheila's own son, 16-year old DJ Furth, is very supportive and is really proud of what his mom is doing. He will be staying with a friend for three weeks while she is away.

LWW artists Kathy Lawler and Chris Fedderson donated their entire inventory of hand-painted cotton children's clothes to the relief effort. They have recently switched their business from clothing art to wall art and could not think of a better use for high-end cotton outfits than to make a lot of young children smile.

Thanks to the organizational efforts of LWW residents Lori Humphrey and Susan Piper and many dedicated "blanketeers," the Nevada County chapter of Project Linus has already sent off 150 blankets to children affected by the hurricane.

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Got a tip about someone or something in Lake Wildwood? Contact Shirl Mendonca at 432-3787 or shirlmendonca @gv.net via e-mail.