The American Red Cross has thousands of Good Samaritans and one Jack Sarmanian. The 78-year-old retired social worker has provided his counseling services as a Red Cross Volunteer since 2010.

On June 29, the Red Cross called Sarmanian into service to counsel West Virginia flood victims. The Mountain State was deluged with over nine inches of rain in a 24-hour period in late June, resulting in historic flooding. Thousands of West Virginians lost their homes and belongings to the natural disaster.

Sarmanian arrived in Charleston, West Virginia on July 1 and spent 10 days traveling the six most heavily damaged counties counseling victims.

“The devastation was beyond belief. The West Virginia people are very resilient people. Most of the people in the valley lost everything. The flood destroyed their homes and about 90 percent of their belongings were lost,” Sarmanian said.

He worked with other Red Cross volunteers and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) workers during his West Virginia deployment. He spent the 10 days traveling around the state with either a social worker or nurse. These teams of two volunteers would provide assistance to victims and provide information about living conditions to emergency personnel coordinating the response.

For Sarmanian, it was long days beginning at 4:30 a.m. and ending around 7 p.m. each night. It was traveling on bad roads heavily damaged by the flooding and finding food wherever he could.

“We’d drive 70-150 miles per day on bad roads. Communication was difficult because the mountains blocked GPS and cell phone usage. And we’d go for miles without seeing any stores, so we’d be lucky to find a McDonalds somewhere along our journey,” he said.

Sarmanian is a senior counselor within the Red Cross organization. He spoke to victims battling depression and anxiety following the tragedy. He also counseled families who lost a loved one. A 4-year-old and an 8-year-old were among the 23 who lost their lives in the flood. Sarmanian counseled one of the two families who lost a child.

“My role is to speak to those having trouble expressing themselves. It was a very emotional experience dealing with the aftermath of such a terrible tragedy. They were all experiencing pain, grief, frustration and anger. This made the whole process very real to me,” he said.

Sarmanian will turn 79 later this year. He’s retired, but still wants to use his training to help others. Even though he spent 10 days in a flood-ravaged community eating fast food and sleeping at times in one room with 40 others, Sarmanian seeks out opportunities to assist people in disaster situations.

“I’ve always appreciated the work of the Red Cross. Counseling is what I do, and if you can help people, you should. I’m trained to help those in need and I definitely want to be there for them,” Sarmanian said.

His next Red Cross assignment begins July 18 in Albany, New York. He will speak at a Services for Armed Forces event at the local military base. Sarmanian will counsel veterans returning from Middle East deployments. He will focus on their return to civilian life as the U.S. military is in the process of reducing its active duty roster.

“It’s a trying time for these returning veterans. Many don’t know what to do now with all the military’s downsizing,” he said. “This starts a dialogue preparing them for their new challenges.”

Sarmanian specializes in assisting his patients on how to communicate and express themselves. His seminars deal with stress and anger management and dealing with depression.