By Josh Egbert, American Red Cross of Colorado and Wyoming Public Affairs
For Debby MacSwain, the American Red Cross has been her life’s work. For nearly 57 years, Debby has been a volunteer, an employee and a board member of the Southeastern Colorado Chapter. Passion for her community and helping others has kept her going all these years.
“The things I’ve been able to do, the places I’ve been able to go, the people I’ve been able to meet, they’re the people, they’re the programs, that’s been something I’ve gotten out of it,” explains Debby. “I believe that I’ve gotten much more out of the red cross, things I’ve done than they’ve gotten out of me.”
Debby’s Red Cross journey began in the pool. After graduating college, she became a Water Safety Instructor volunteer in her hometown of Colorado Springs. As she was looking for a job, an instructor trainer suggested she apply for a job with the Red Cross. So, she did and within two weeks, she was on her way to Vietnam.
“In Vietnam, I was an SRAO (Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas),” said Debby. “We made up programs that were based on quiz shows and board games, a way to entertain the troops and bring a touch of home to the troops. We did over two million flying miles to those outreach places.”
After a year overseas, Debby returned home and went back to teaching swimming. She said she had many opportunities to go to other places, but eventually ended up in Europe with the military where she… you guessed it, taught swimming safety.
“They asked me to do something and I would. It’s where I met my husband,” said Debby. “He was in the military and everywhere we went after we got married, I started as a volunteer with the Red Cross and got involved another things besides teaching swimming.”
Debby says military spouses often have a hard time finding paid employment, but for Debbie, she was often offered a paid position after first being a volunteer. One of those positions was in Washington, D.C., at the Red Cross National Headquarters.
“I got there in 1990-1991, Operation Desert Shield had just started and they had just started the situation room,” explained Debby. “I started as a volunteer, the situation room grew and I became an employee where I was the deployment coordinator for Desert Shield and Desert Storm. We sent over 165 people to the desert. That was the largest deployment for both the military and Red Cross since Vietnam.”
With her position, Debby was deployed worldwide, including Somalia. Throughout her Red Cross career, she’s been to places like England during the Iraq War, Germany and several locations across the United States.
In 1996, Debby and her husband Jim returned to Colorado Springs when he retired from the military. She, of course, jumped back into volunteering, where she taught swimming, did public relations, taught a variety of classes and did an interim assignment for National Headquarters. That’s when she was approached about becoming a board member for the Southeastern Colorado Chapter, where she got to talk about some of her experiences overseas with veterans.
“I enjoyed being able to say some of the experiences I had with some of the World War II people I met and their stories,” said Debby. “Which I’ve had an opportunity to report on and talk about once in a while.”
Throughout her Red Cross journey, Debby has received numerous awards including, the employee Red Cross Tiffany Award at the Senior Vice President level and the Department of Defense Sustained Superior Performance Award. In 2012, she received the highest volunteer leadership award given by the Red Cross, which was presented to her by Gail McGovern, the President of the American Red Cross. In 2015 she received the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the White House Indian Treaty Room and in 2017, the Fort Carson Commanders Award for Public Service.
“I’ve been really fortunate, I’ve been given a lot of recognition and some really wonderful recognition and I’ve gotten to know people, like Gail and Koby Langely (Senior Vice President of the Red Cross),” said Debby. “I’ve gotten to know a few others and they’re doing a great job and I appreciate being able to work alongside them.”
After all these years, Debby isn’t slowing down. She works as the Volunteer Lead for Recognition at NHQ and is back on the board of directors in Southeastern Colorado. And as Debby says, the work isn’t over yet.
“The Red Cross for me, has offered me so many opportunities and it’s important to me,” added Debby. “It’s been important in my life ever since, especially since Vietnam. And there’s still things to do.”
If Debby’s story of service has inspired you, click here to learn more about volunteer opportunities in your community.