Jackie Norris has a passion for recruiting and engaging the incredible people who volunteer for the American Red Cross. She has been with the organization for over 50 years. In fact, the Red Cross was her first job out of college. She remained on staff for many years through the ’70s, ’80s and early ’90s and became a dedicated volunteer after that. When Jackie retired in 2008, she didn’t slow down. She became more involved with the Red Cross and continues to do so to this day!
Jackie currently serves in several roles, almost all in Volunteer Services. She’s the Mile High Area Screening Lead, the Colorado and Wyoming region Volunteer Service Engagement Lead, Volunteer Partner to Colorado and Wyoming region CEO, Gino Greco and a Master Instructor for volunteer service courses.
When asked what her favorite part about volunteering with the Red Cross is, Jackie has a long list! “Definitely the people, both employees and volunteers, with whom I have the privilege of working. And the fact that I get to do work I love with flexibility and with volunteers who are a total delight to work with. As a volunteer, I love that in the Red Cross, you can do so many different things on so many different levels. I also love our history, but that’s probably because I’ve been around so long!”
“When I was on the staff years ago, I had a terrific Red Cross family, some of which became lifelong friends. When I started as a retiree volunteer in 2008, most of those people were gone, but now I have a whole new Red Cross family, equally as wonderful.”
Jackie has so many beautiful memories with the Red Cross; it is hard for her to single one out as the best. If she must narrow it down to the most influential, she says, “my very first year, as a “Donut Dolly” (recreation worker) in South Vietnam during the war (67-68) was full of significant memories that helped me chart my career and personal path for the future.” One of Jackie’s most satisfying memories is the experience of helping to develop new volunteers into leadership volunteers and hearing them say they never thought they could do the job and but then turning out to love it!
You can feel Jackie’s love for the Red Cross when she speaks about the organization, “we are a worldwide movement dedicated to providing humanitarian relief to those who need it most, often at the worst of times. We are composed of a small, hard-working and dedicated employee team and a huge corps of extremely committed and hard-working volunteers who deliver our mission all over this country and this world.”
“I used to love the fact that I could go to any city in this country and the Red Cross office would pretty always look the same because we provide the same services to everyone, everywhere.”
If you asked Jackie’s husband what she does when she is not at the Red Cross, he might tease and say that she does nothing else! But the truth is, Jackie has a rich life spending time with her husband, kids and grandkids, traveling, reading, cooking, enjoying time with friends and enjoying the flexibility of her retiree life. Jackie looks forward to getting back to traveling and socializing later this year!
