MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW)- By presidential proclamation, every March is deemed American Red Cross Month. This year the agency will honor the everyday hero: the donor who transforms a stranger’s life by giving blood, the volunteer who provides a hot meal to someone in need, the teacher who helps save a student from choking. We all have the potential to be everyday heroes.

The American Red Cross Palmetto SC region serves the entire state of South Carolina and assisted 7,000 people involved in a disaster in the last year. But the Coastal South Carolina Chapter says in order to continue those services it needs more people.

Disaster Relief volunteer Larry White decided he wanted to give back when he moved to South Carolina.

“Well, I was raised that way to volunteer and whatever you can do and feel comfortable doing then when i moved down here it’s like I saw all the hurricanes and thought i should experiment with that and i just love doing it,” White said.

And now 16 years later though he’s helped many families in different situations, he said each case starts the same.

“I get a phone call from the messaging service whoever is on call, they’ll call me and tell me the address and what not and give me the information to call somebody else.”

But volunteers never know what to expect when they arrive.

“Then you get out there and it’s like oh my goodness the whole house is destroyed again. It’s just the houses around here don’t stand a chance hardly.”

One thing that impacts his opportunity to respond to those fires is a lack of volunteers.

“We’re supposed to always go out in two but a lot of times there’s not enough volunteers, if you go out in the day time it’s usually not a problem unless it’s an unfamiliar area.”

That’s why the local Red Cross Chapter works to get more volunteers prepared to respond.

“Don’t let the fact that you’re not trained inhibit you, we will give you that training and we will not let you do anything that you shouldn’t do without being trained,” Disaster Manager Lou Palm said.

And knowing that the work he does makes a difference is what will keep Larry an active volunteer.

“It does your heart good to be able to give back to the community and go out and help somebody that’s the key right there.”

The American Red Cross of Eastern South Carolina looks to add Disaster Relief Volunteers to the Horry County and Pee Dee regions.