Dorothy Brunkan felt devastated Tuesday morning as she watched TV news on the continuing devastation wildfires are causing throughout Southern California.

"I think it's a very sad situation," said the Ventura resident. "People have lost absolutely everything."

She plans to donate money and clothes for victims who have lost their homes or have been evacuated because of the fires. But, like others, Brunkan struggled to find out how to help.

Several organizations and agencies are asking for donations and volunteers to help people affected by the wildfires.

"We're always looking for new volunteers that like to do this work (for disaster response)," said Jeff Landis, manager of public support for the American Red Cross, Ventura County chapter. "Volunteers are what makes our organization move forward."

Currently the organization's main function in the county is providing evacuees with shelter, Landis said.

As of late Tuesday afternoon, the Red Cross had opened one shelter in the county at the Fillmore-Piru Veterans Memorial building in Fillmore. Landis said the Red Cross could open other sites throughout the county within hours, including ones in Simi Valley and Santa Paula.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is urging people who want to help others affected by the fires to donate money to nonprofit organizations active in disaster work.

Officials said donated items, known as in-kind donations, can be logistically difficult to handle. Cash donations allow for organizations to easily purchase needed goods and services.

Meathead Movers, a moving company that has a facility in Camarillo, is asking for emergency supplies to be donated, including diapers, wipes and formula, water and face masks, all of which must be new.

Other organizations are still assessing the needs of fire victims before providing any response.

"We'll certainly provide whatever we can when we have more information," said Dave Horning, head of the United Methodist Church's Disaster Response Committee. The church, he said, anticipates that the needs of victims will be great, especially in San Diego.

Local country music radio station KHAY, 100.7 FM, began broadcasting from the Pacific View mall in Ventura, collecting donations to fill a truck with water, fruit drinks and snacks.

"It was stuffed from top to bottom," said Tom Watson, director of operations and programming for Cumulus Media, owner of the station. At 3 p.m. Tuesday, the supplies were taken to a staging area for firefighters.

Diane Campbell of Camarillo, a volunteer with the Red Cross for 26 years, began helping the organization set up evacuation shelters Sunday when word of the fires first broke.

"It's an enormous task," she said. "Imagine borrowing a building and turning it into a bed and breakfast within an hour."

Campbell said she has been focused primarily on Piru and Fillmore.

"We're just concentrating on being fully prepared right now," she said.

The Salvation Army's Southern California division sent four of its 11 canteens to shelters in San Diego, said Joe Cabral, director of marketing for the division.

One was left at the Ventura Community Center in case the situation in Ventura County grows worse, he said.