the fires that have been burning across the state have put a serious strain on the red cross. our cristina rodda spoke with the organization about the challenges the past few weeks have brought. the las conchas fire ... the wallow fire, the track fire near raton, the ruidoso fire, plus — the donaldson and little lewis fires ... wherever there was a disaster-- the red cross was there. "the last few weeks have been very busy for the american red cross in new mexico." and before that, the red cross was in northern new mexico for the natural gas outage that left thousands of new mexicans in the cold, during the most frigid temperatures in decades. . in all more than 450 volunteers spread out around the state-- set up emergency shelters-- brought in cots, food and supplies. they provided counseling and medical care-- plus a sense of reassurance when there was little of that to go around. "they know our volunteers are there to help take care of them." there’s no telling how much was spent. "the billsa aren't in and it's really an unknown while the bills aren't in, the red cross says it needs more funding, so it can be ready for the next round of disasters. "we always have to be prepared." governor martinez is encouraging state employees to donate money to the red cross. "the dollars for disaster" campaign starts july 14th. on that day, each state agency will collect money and hand it over to the red cross.