(Text by Pete Porter, Photos by Margaret Porter)
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(Text by Pete Porter, Photos by Margaret Porter) |
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Christine Okinaga, the LAX Travelers Aid Director of Volunteers, met us in their main office just to the left of the entrance to the Theme Building. They have been at this location for about two years, after being located at various terminals throughout the Los Angeles Airport. She told us that there are around 30 RSVP South Bay members carrying out Travellers Aid duties and that, although they have a total of around 300 at the airport, this is the largest group of volunteers that they have (the next biggest being those from Culver City RSVP). During our visit we would be able to talk with four of our members. Barbara Roamer volunteers at the Terminal 2 International booth, while Norma West helps Domestic travellers at the same terminal. Later on we would find Dorothy Chapple in Terminal 3 and Hilde Luxa at the booth located in the Tom Bradley International Terminal.
Christine told us that Travelers Aid has been in Los Angeles since 1922, although she wasn't sure what they did between that time and their establishment at the Union Railway Station in down town Los Angeles in the '40s. They also had a booth at the Greyhound terminal but didn't move to LAX until 1958. The original booth at Union Station is still in use after being found nine years ago. The original telephone connection is still there, along with all the original locks and Christine says that the volunteers are very careful not to touch too much of this museum-worthy collection.
The Travelers Aid volunteers in the booths at the LAX terminals are there to assist the travellers and they are able to provide a wealth of tourist information to those that require it. In particular, those having an eleven hour layover are provided with ways to get to Santa Monica, the Marina etc - just something that will enable them to explore a bit of what we have in this city. They can also be supplied with slips to utilize the public transport system while they are here. Age groups range from large numbers of back-packers to retirees. However, the volunteers do not get involved with small children unless they are accompanied by an adult on their journey. The organization has a contract with the airport to help those travellers who appear to have a particular crisis, such as lost or stolen baggage or currency. Some travellers who have limited English speaking skills get confused when they incorrectly think that they have arrived at their final destination and wonder why there isn't anyone there to meet them. When our volunteers notice them waiting in the terminal and looking lost, they are able to contact the airlines to arrange for them to be sent on their way to the final destination.
 Christine Okinaga in front of the Long Service Award Plaques |
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| Although the American Red Cross handles the initial problems associated with National Emergencies, such as 9-11 or Katrina, the volunteers at Travelers Aid tend to get involved later on. These tasks encompass helping folks relocate and setting them in touch with a support system that might be in another State. Some of this involves coordinating with other agencies but the main activity is involved in helping people relocate to another State. | |
| International travelers come from as far away as the Orient, Australia and various other European countries. Luckily, 60% of the volunteers are bi-lingual, although this is not really a requirement. The airport pays for a wonderful service through AT&T called the Language Line. This service can handle up to 140 different languages in less than 30 seconds. All the volunteer has to do is call AT&T and let them know the language of the traveller in need. They are then able to connect them with someone who speaks their language. | |
| Volunteers are asked to donate at least one four hour day each week after completing a training program. Most of the volunteers stay for at least seven years, although some remain involved for much more than that. The longest active member has been with Travelers Aid for over 31 years and Christine told me that Joyce Coil originally started working with Travelers Aid back in 1961, although she is now actually employed as the official Travelers Aid Liason by the airport itself. The office is proud to display a number of long service plaques that show the names of those volunteers with over twenty years of service and those that have donated more than 2,000 hours for the organization. Christine was also proud to tell us that Travelers Aid deals with as many as one million travelers that need assistance while passing through LAX and Union Station each year. | |
| [Please click on the following link if you want to find out more about the history behind Travelers Aid. Travelers Aid Society History.] | |
| Christine then took us over to Terminal 2 where we met RSVP members, Norma West and Barbara Roamer. | |
| We stopped off at the Terminal 2 East booth at the start of our tour. RSVP member, Barbara Roamer, was working there with Ria Deurlein and Louse Upp. Barbara has been volunteering at Travelers Aid for nine years now. Just after her husband passed away, Barbara's father saw an article about RSVP in the local newspaper and suggested that she call in at the office to see if she could help. She was told that Travelers Aid was looking for volunteers to help out at the airport and she has been there ever since. While we were at this booth RSVP member, Norma West, popped by from her post at the Terminal 2 West booth and we were able to take the group photos shown below. The Travelers Aid Arm Bands that you can see there are the same design as those originally used way back in 1922, when the organization was first formed. I was also informed that the LAX Travelers Aid uniform is the only one in the USA and Canada that still wears these original arm bands. | |
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RSVP Member Ria Deurlein, Louise Upp , RSVP Member Barbara Roamer (Ria was born in Holland and takes great pleasure meeting with any KLM passengers that are in need of assistance). |
| RSVP Members Norma West and Barbara Roamer showing off their 1922 version arm bands. |  |
| Passing on to the Terminal 3 Travelers Aid booth, we met up with RSVP Member Dorothy Chapple. Dorothy originally volunteered for Travelers Aid while she was still working for GTE. She volunteered for a company group called GTE People that was working in community services as part of their Public Relations effort. The group was approached by Travelers Aid and Dorothy thought that it would be a good way to feel like she was travelling without even having to get off the ground. At that time she was only able to donate 4 hours a week due to her work schedule, However, now that she is retired, she is able to volunteer a lot more time to the organization. She said that she enjoyed helping lost people get where they were meant to be going. Dorothy says that it satisfies her soul when she knows that she's helped somone, and that it's really the reason she was doing this job. |  |
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RSVP Member Hilde Luxa was in command of the Travelers Aid booth in the Tom Bradley International Terminal. Hilde has been volunteering for Travelers Aid since 1992 and, based on what we observed, is kept very busy with the many large flights that come in there. I ventured that things must slow up a bit during the Winter months, but she soon put me right. She said that, for some reason, this part of the year seemed to be the main time that visitors from the Orient come to Southern California, and she sees a lot of Japanese travelers because of this. Although she spoke fluent German and some Spanish, she said that the only Japanese that she knew was Sayanora, so she depended on the visitors being able to speak some English at least! |
| Heading back East towards Terminal 2, we caught up with Norma West once more at her regular Domestic Terminal 2 booth. Norma was able to tell us a bit more about her husband, Ed, who also donates time at Travelers Aid. Ed is kept fairly busy conducting the classes of the eight week training course for those interested in joining the organization. He conducts most of these classes during the evening shift from 7:00pm to 10:00pm, although he usually arrives earlier in order to get ready for his tuition session. | |
| A full list of the South Bay RSVP members who volunteer at the LAX Travellers Aid is shown below: | |
Shirley Feinberg, Alan Fukuda, John Harrison Helen Kerr, Hilde Luxa, Pat Marshall Norma Masuda, Raelyn Morgan, Ellen Newberry Richard Newberry, Mosako Ishita, Barbara Roamer, Annabel St. John, Emily Stallings, Jesse Stallings Michiye Takeyama, Norma Wells, Ed West Norma West, Keith Wilkinson, Joan Butter Inez Dallas, Ria Deurlein, Janet Hall Barbara Montgomery | |