By Rick Padden, American Red Cross Public Affairs
I’ll admit, unashamedly, that I got into volunteer work because I simply needed something to do in my retirement. And being a Baby Boomer who grew up on John Wayne and Audie Murphy war movies, with Red Cross ambulances bravely plowing through the smoke and debris in the background on the battlefields, dodging shrapnel to save the wounded, I suppose I had some romantic vison of being one of those heroic types that risked their lives – above the conflict; above the battle – for the good of mankind. So, I chose the Red Cross.
No, it wasn’t such a noble commitment, really, nor have I found myself risking my life, but my decision has ultimately put me in the midst of people who are indeed noble, committed, above the fray and selfless. Thus, I have found a good spot.
We who work in American Red Cross Public Affairs are charged with “telling the Red Cross story,” be it in the field reporting on Gray Sky relief efforts in disaster zones, or in our communities, documenting daily preparedness work during calmer, Blue Sky days.
Under Gray Skies, the basic idea is to assure our donors that the Red Cross is indeed putting their money to work and effectively alleviating human suffering as much as possible. We can’t alleviate, lessen or mitigate a dang thing if the flow of money doesn’t continue.
Under Blue Skies, the Red Cross works diligently in education and prevention, with programs such as Sound the Alarm, the Pillowcase Project, CPR classes and many others. In fair weather, it’s also the time when the Red Cross turns a bit inward and finds the time to nurture, support, train and groom its huge workforce of volunteers, and there’s little doubt that the organization realizes the importance of this.
Whatever the sky looks like throughout the year, I get the opportunity to talk directly with folks in just about every volunteer capacity. I get to sit with them one-on-one, asking them where they came from; what they’re passionate about; what they like about their volunteer work; what brought them to this devasted zone in the middle of nowhere, or to this urban doorstep offering to help; or why they want to help others and work for free in the first place.
Sometimes my job is more like internal affairs, and what makes people tick, than public affairs. What makes a Red Crosser cross that line, eh? That line between selfishness and selflessness? What makes them so different when it comes to basic humanity? I get to find out, and it’s a something I’ve grown to appreciate.
I’ve been struck by the overall character of every one of the people I’ve met on deployments, and in the daily activities of our local branch. It’s good to be around such people.
"Yes, it’s the people who make the Red Cross worth being involved with."
It’s the managerial and organizational skills of the disaster response coordinators, managing hundreds of volunteers, facilitating multiple partnerships with other organizations and government agencies, overseeing extreme complexities of timing and geography, and arranging for the movement of tons of materials and hundreds of people while routinely facing down the operational disruptions and obstacles so naturally encountered in disaster areas.
It’s the unassuming chemical engineer wearing jeans, t-shirt and a Red Cross vest, serving food through an ERV window to tired cleanup crews in a flooded neighborhood.
It’s the patient listeners – the mental health caseworkers who empathize so smoothly with the 92-year-old WWII veteran spending the 75th anniversary of D-Day in a dirty motel room, wondering if he is going to remain homeless after the flood.
It’s the Red Cross warehouse foreman who can move relief supplies as efficiently and quickly as any Walmart supervisor in the country.
It’s the economics professor, unloading cases of bottled water at the shelter, next to the Hispanic language translator, carrying cots under each arm toward the gym.
It’s the men and women preparing meals in the kitchen into the wee hours of the night for hungry clients they’ll never see nor meet.
It’s that guy from Columbus, Ohio who’s been on 54 Disaster Relief Operations in 22 states, who just keeps on going like it’s no big deal.
It’s that person you never even meet who networks an entire room full of computers at the local operations center.
It’s the transportation experts, getting us all to where we need to be, safely and on time.
It’s the assignment editors, relentlessly tracking down the stories that may have the most impact, and setting up the contacts to get them done.
It’s that young woman organizing field teams, dispatching men and women twice her age to challenging missions into unknown territories, rising to the task with confidence.
It’s that roommate in the hotel who is so tactful about my snoring, even though he’s had precious little sleep in three days.
It’s that DAT responder couple in eastern Colorado who drives 70 miles in the middle of the night to hand a financial assistance card to a burned-out family.
Most folks who volunteer for the Red Cross haven’t retired, they’ve simply re-engaged with the world.
In recent months I’ve been asked to write a series of volunteer profiles for our regional monthly newsletter. These are personal interviews, with people working in all sorts of roles, and coming from very diverse backgrounds. I’ve been encountering psychotherapists, Indian affairs experts, masters in international affairs, political scientists, linguists, registered nurses, educators, analytical planners, business men and women – you name it.
What I’ve come away with is a sense that Red Cross volunteers tend to be intelligent, well-educated (be it bookwise or streetwise), honest, unselfish, dedicated, and people of high integrity.