Carlyn Ellison, a master’s in public health student, had just signed up as an American Red Cross volunteer in anticipation of conducting her internship with the group in the spring, when news hit that Hurricane Irma was making a beeline for Florida.
After some hurried emergency training, Ellison got her first volunteer assignment the night before the storm hit northern Florida: staffing a shelter in Gilchrist County, Alachua County’s neighbor to the west. Ellison set up the shelter’s registration station and registered more than 250 evacuees during a 12-hour shift. Ellison plans to pursue a career in emergency management