By Mary Jo Blackwood, American Red Cross Volunteer
Who knew one first aid and CPR class could blossom into a relationship with an organization that spanned almost five decades? As a nurse working in Dayton, Ohio, I took a class that struck me as vitally important for many people to have, so I became an instructor and started teaching others how to save lives. I did that extensively in Dayton. My husband and I even had a CPR party for our friends at our house, at which 11 people were certified before the drinking and dancing started! We made the local newspaper.
A couple of years later, we relocated to St. Louis, MO and I started graduate school in Public Health. I called the local Red Cross and asked if they needed any help teaching CPR and first aid classes. Of course, they did! They needed many classes taught and they needed my blood! So started a long productive relationship with the St. Louis Area Chapter.
As I left grad school and worked a couple of jobs, I became the in-house Red Cross trainer for all CPR and first-aid classes. But the Red Cross wasn’t done with me. They had many other jobs for me. And just when I thought I needed to cut back a little, someone would call me and say: “Mary Jo, we have a new project and it has your name all over it!” And I was back on the hook.
Over the years, my Red Cross jobs included:
- Being in a fire safety slideshow with my family
- Founding and working with the Lifesaver/Heroes program until it ended, to tell those stories of people saving lives that make training compelling and valuable
- Managing flood shelters
- Making United Way funding presentations on behalf of the chapter
- Serving on regional awards committees
- Serving as a delegate to national conventions
- Teaching volunteer management principles and practices to paid staff
- Writing volunteer job descriptions
- Serving as a volunteer auditor with my husband for National, traveling all over the country auditing small chapters and helping them raise standards
- Serving on the local Board of Directors multiple times, now emeritus
- Donating over 100 units of platelets
- Being the volunteer partner overseeing all the volunteers for the national convention in St. Louis
- Donating much money to the organization, the last ten years as a Tiffany Society member
- Being a member of the Legacy Society with the Red Cross part of my trust
When people asked me why I have been with the Red Cross for long, my answer has always been: “I stayed because I have always been proud to say I work with the Red Cross. But part of my job as a volunteer is to make sure I can always say that.
Over the years, I have seen both local and national CEOs come and go. Gail McGovern, at the national level, is a keeper and has been the driving force for making the tough decisions that have allowed the Red Cross to stay relevant in changing times. We owe everything to her leadership. At the local level, the same can be said of Cindy Erickson, who, despite personal trauma, has led the region through unprecedented change and response. My admiration for her is unbounded.
In the last year, my husband and I have relocated again, from St. Louis to Denver, CO, at the request of our children, who live here. And I continue to volunteer with the Red Cross as an extension of my day job as a freelance medical writer, still helping tell the stories that personalize our amazing work with blood, health and safety, Services to the Armed Forces and disaster relief. Once a Red Crosser, always a Red Crosser.