My Red Cross Volunteer Story: Joe Cattaneo

Carrying on a Century-Long Family Tradition Volunteering for the Red Cross

By Clarice Nassif Ransom, Volunteer

Volunteer: Joe Cattaneo

Resides: McLean, Virginia

Profession: Retired President of the Glass Packaging Institute and part-time consultant

Length of Volunteer Service: 3 years and counting

Length of Employment with the American Red Cross: 12 years, early in his career

Joe Cattaneo is carrying on a century-long family tradition of volunteering for the Red Cross, which dates back to World War I and spans two nations, the United States and Italy.

Joe’s maternal grandmother served as a volunteer for the Red Cross during World War I in Italy and Joe’s mother followed in those footsteps, serving as a volunteer during World War II, in Italy.  She married Joe’s American father in Rome and settled down in St Louis, Missouri.

“I was influenced by my mother to donate my time to help others in need, as she did so in words and by her actions working for the Visiting Nurses Association late in life,” said Joe.

Some of Joe’s fondest keepsakes are his grandmother’s Red Cross identification card from Italy and a Red Cross celebrity cookbook, which has recipes from celebrated actors from the early 1900’s, such as Al Jolson, Harry Houdini, Douglas Fairbanks, Lillian Russell, Mary Pickford, and Sophie Tucker. The cookbook was dedicated to the American Red Cross and the Actor’s Fund. Joe thinks the proceeds of the cookbook went to both organizations. The cookbook was acquired by Joe’s great uncle, who was a mess sergeant during World War I. Joe inherited the cookbook from his great uncle, who kept it in a special chest along with military medals and memorabilia.

So, Joe could not help but step up and be part of the American Red Cross organization, first, as a part-time employee in college during the Vietnam War era, later as a full-time employee, and now, as a volunteer, post-retirement.

“I started working part-time for the American Red Cross when I was in college,” says Joe. “The father of one of my fraternity brothers was the Assistant Director of the Service to Military Families Department at the St. Louis Bi-State Chapter. At that time, during the Vietnam War, I started doing casework – interviewing local families of military personnel stationed overseas and helping them to learn how to handle a budget and live without a spouse. Sometimes, we would deliver messages to service members from their families, such as the birth of a baby or an illness of a family member.”

Joe eventually landed a full-time permanent job with the American Red Cross where he worked for 12 years in three states – Wisconsin, Illinois, and Ohio, doing everything from serving as a field representative, to chapter management, and deputy division manager.

“Some of my most memorable times working for the American Red Cross was when I was a field representative in Illinois,” said Joe. “I worked statewide with various small chapters and organizations. I would speak about the Red Cross at various functions such as the Kiwanis and Rotary clubs and conduct audits of different chapters. I remember that one small chapter kept all their financial records in a shoe box – of course, this was all before computers.”

Joe also reminisced about the people whose lives he was able to touch working for the Red Cross.

“During the post-Vietnam era, refugees were relocating to the United States, many settling first at military installations before assimilating into communities. The American Red Cross would offer night courses to teach the refugees English. We also provided job placement for them. I even hosted a party at my apartment where we had folks attend not only from Vietnam, but also from Korea, Cambodia, and Eastern Europe. Everyone brought a dish from their homeland and it was a delicious potluck. One of the fellows was a tailor and made me a suit as a gift.”

Joe then became a Red Cross chapter manager in Wisconsin, where he was a community leader, promoting the Red Cross.

“I had a monthly radio show,” said Joe. “I would talk about blood drives and their locations, swimming and safety courses we were offering, and I would recruit volunteers. It was a great way to promote the Red Cross.”

After leaving the Red Cross as an employee, Joe became a partner in an Ohio advertising firm for nine years, then moved to the Washington, D.C. area to become Vice President of Marketing for the Glass Packaging Institute, one of his former clients, and eventually President of the Glass Packaging Institute where he retired in 2012, after a 20-year career with the trade association.

“I was looking at doing something on a voluntary basis for my community after I retired, so I contacted the American Red Cross in Fairfax,” said Joe. “I started volunteering as a Community Leader for the Red Cross, representing the Red Cross at exhibits and attending various community meetings and fundraising activities. I was then referred to be the head of volunteer services to participate on their volunteer intake screening team. In volunteer intake, we screen people who are interested in volunteering – we are sort of like matchmakers. We gauge their level of interest, and what they want to do, and find them volunteer opportunities that fit their backgrounds and our needs.”

In January alone, there were 400 volunteer applicants for the Red Cross in the National Capital Region that needed to be screened for the right volunteer opportunity. The time commitment is flexible and the ways to help out are endless – from blood donor services, to disaster relief, to community engagement, to a home fire campaign, to helping out at military hospitals and installations. Their volunteer opportunities are endless.

“We always welcome volunteers,” said Joe. “For me, volunteering for the American Red Cross completes my life as it is now. When I do this, I feel active. I get to interact with young like-minded people, and I look forward to it every day. It is not like a job, that can sometimes get tedious. There is always someone to help, someone whose life you can make better helping through volunteer service.”

When Joe is not volunteering for the American Red Cross, he is helping out many other organizations, including heading up a food bank, helping to tutor kids, and providing help for the homeless. He is also a music aficionado who once played piano, trumpet, guitar, and was in a band in high school. He also enjoys symphonies, operas, theater and sports.

“I am a St. Louis Cardinal fan forever,” concluded Joe.

My Red Cross Volunteer Story: Letha Atwater

Written by: Rebecca Churchill, volunteer

The work that volunteers do to support the mission of the Red Cross is essential. Service to the Armed Forces volunteer, Letha Atwater, is one such volunteer. Letha serves in two capacities – as a volunteer in the Client Services Department and as the Red Cross Veterans Affairs Volunteer Services (VAVS) Lead. Having uncles who served in World War II and the Vietnam War, and a brother in the Marines, it is no surprise that she felt a special connection to working with members of the military and the veteran community. She is soft spoken and passionate about how the Red Cross helps so many of those who serve in the armed forces, veterans and their families.

At any given time, Client Services receives a dozen active military cases each week as part of the Red Cross’ Hero Care Network. As a caseworker, she determines how best to respond to each one. There are elements of military life that are beyond a civilian’s experience. Letha remembers a particularly moving case where a father of three military sons was in the hospital when his wife was diagnosed with brain cancer and was severely ill. He needed to reach his sons at once and deliver this heart-breaking news. The Red Cross was able to find the soldiers deployed around the world, bring them home, and provide wrap-around services for the family, including monetary support and counseling, to help them through their time of need.

Letha is no stranger to medicine or hospitals; she was a young resident in Colorado when she started doing rotations in the veteran’s hospital. She would later leave medicine in order to devote more time to her children and family but said, “I had developed a passion for interacting with veterans in a medical setting… and (with the Red Cross) everything came full circle.”

Letha’s work as the Volunteer Lead with VAVS demands great energy and commitment, as she is the go-between the Red Cross and the Washington DC Veterans Medical Hospital. She organizes outreach events to connect veterans with health care and other services they need. One collaboration, the Winter Haven Homeless Veterans Stand-down, is now in its 22nd year in Washington, DC. The event provides goods and services to some 800 veterans, some of whom are persons at risk, with personal care items, clothing, medical services, assistance with benefits, and clothing items. The event is designed to be a touchpoint opportunity to make contact with existing clients and hopefully bring other veterans to the hospital. Another outreach program is specifically for female veterans. The program focuses on wellness for female veterans and offers a unique opportunity for them to connect with one another, as well as get access to health checkups, services, and even a little dining and dancing. Letha notes that these programs are designed to connect with veterans and to create relationships between them and the hospital, health care providers, other veterans, and service organizations.

“I am forever thankful for the Red Cross for trusting me and giving me the opportunity to do what I do,” she said.

Her dedication and commitment to the well-being of service members and veterans has not gone unnoticed. Letha was recently recognized by VA Hospital Director Brian Hawkins and VA Secretary nominee David Shulkin for outstanding support to the DC VA Medical Center. She is currently working on her Master’s Degree in Neuropsychology and Clinical Mental Health Counseling.

My Red Cross Volunteer Story: Ursula Allen

Written by: Melanie Benson, volunteer

Ursula Allen is no stranger to the value and impact of service to the community. Over her 15-year tenure as the Director of the Adventurer Club children’s group at the Metropolitan Seventh-day Adventist Church (Metro) in Hyattsville, Maryland, she has led a variety of neighborhood outreach events.

After learning about opportunities with the Red Cross through fellow church leaders, Metro's first Red Cross event, a Community Safety Day, took place on February 18 of this year. Safety Day was full of events, not only for Ursula's youth group, but also for their families and church neighbors. Kids between the ages of 4-9 years old learned about fire safety and got to explore a fire truck up close. After learning and practicing how to exit a building, the Adventurers received their Fire Safety training award.

The Adventurers, along with older kids, also learned tips and tools to prepare for emergencies through the Red Cross Pillowcase Project. While encouraging kids' creativity by decorating their pillowcases, the Project taught the kids to stay safe in an emergency and to feel empowered through preparedness. Students were encouraged to share what they learned with family and friends, and to bring their new skills and pillowcase kits home.

While the children were learning safety skills, the adults also had opportunities to learn CPR training and first aid basics. Many in Metro's congregation set out, donning Red Cross vests, to install smoke detectors in neighborhood homes as part of the Red Cross' nationwide initiative to save lives, reduce injuries, and cut down on losses from home fires. Ursula emphasized the importance of this effort in advancing Metro's focus on ministry within the community. She shared an example of how Safety Day had a positive ripple effect. During the smoke detector installation sessions, she met an elderly gentleman who was on dialysis. Ursula has since returned to visit him, bringing warm meals, and introducing him to other church members.

Ursula sees the Community Safety Day as a resounding success with 65 participants, and many requests from parishioners to do it again. She notes that during Safety Day, her team was only able to reach about a quarter of the neighborhood, indicating how much more outreach is needed just in their immediate environs. She urges others to not shy away from the possibility of hosting or participating in such events, because by educating people and strengthening ties within their immediate neighborhood, communities become stronger, safer, and more self-reliant.

If you are interested in hosting a community outreach event, visit us here!

My Red Cross Volunteer & Donor Story: Andy Heymann

Written by: Rebecca Churchill, volunteer

Andy Heymann is a passionate Red Cross volunteer, blood donor, and career Army veteran. He currently works for the Smithsonian Institution and the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), which is a workplace charity program that facilitates charitable giving to select non-profit organizations, including the Red Cross.
 
Andy has been deployed all over the world, and it is easier to ask what parts of the world he has yet to see. As a soldier, he has been at the epicenter of international conflicts and has seen the devastation that war has on people, communities, and services. He also witnessed the action and involvement of the Red Cross within the Armed Forces. Andy recently stood up at his CFC fair and announced that the Red Cross was his lifetime charity of choice, and encouraged others to sign up for paycheck deductions designated to the Red Cross, potentially raising thousands of dollars for the organization. When asked how he came to have such a commitment to the Red Cross, Andy shared his story.
 
In the summer of 1979, he was a young soldier at special training camp in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, when he got a call that his father had been hospitalized. It was July 4th weekend and all the banks were closed – this was before ATM machines, and he had to leave immediately. The Red Cross responded with an emergency grant that financed his flight home to be with his family during their bereavement at his father’s passing and funeral.
 
“It is amazing to me that the Red Cross is always on the scene. They are first responders in every sense and in my desperate time, they made it possible for me to be with my family.”
 
Andy’s mission is to get more people to make the Red Cross their charity of choice to help support the ongoing work of the Red Cross, so they can be there in times of disaster, suffering, and need. “This is an organization that time after time comes through for people in their worst moments,” he said. And focusing on fundraising for the future of the Red Cross is how Andy is now paying it forward.

Lifesaving Home Fire Campaign

Written by: Melanie Benson, volunteer

Earthquakes.  Tornadoes.  Hurricanes.  Every year the Red Cross and its volunteers respond to nearly 66,000 disasters.  You may be surprised, however, to learn that the majority of Red Cross disaster responders are not deployed to natural weather events, but to home fires.

On average, seven people die every day in the U.S. from home fires. Thirty six people suffer injuries as a result of home fires, and property damage results cost over $7 billion. In homes where there are no smoke detectors, the mortality rate is over 50%. In response to these shocking statistics, the Red Cross and its partners have initiated a Fire Safety Campaign that seeks to reduce death and injury from home fires by 25% by 2020.

Since 2014, the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign has made progress: 159 lives have been saved and over 702,060 smoke detectors have been installed.  Yet, work remains to meet the Red Cross goal.

Get prepared at home: Families may have as little as two minutes to escape after a fire starts.  By maintaining smoke detectors as an early warning device, and establishing an escape plan, families can be prepared.  Check out other top fire safety tips for your home and family here.

Teach our kids: Children under the age of five are twice as likely to die in a home fire.  Taking sensible precautions, such as keeping matches and lighters out of reach, and teaching children how to escape from a fire will help keep the most vulnerable family members safe.  Tips for teaching fire safety for kids can be found here.

The Red Cross also sponsors the Pillowcase Project to teach preparedness and coping skills in dealing with a variety of emergency situations. To request a presentation for your classroom or youth group, visit us here.

Reach the community: One of the largest Red Cross Fire Safety initiatives is the smoke detector installation project.  Working with fire departments and other partners, volunteers deploy as teams into neighborhoods to install free 10-year smoke alarms and replace smoke alarm batteries.  For those who have been waiting for a way to volunteer with the Red Cross, there is no experience required to join this campaign!  The Red Cross provides brief training before teams canvas communities with the mission of educating people on fire safety and reaching out to those who need assistance in the installation of smoke detectors. Smoke Detector Installation days are ongoing and spread across our Capital region.  Sign up and get involved to save lives!

My Red Cross Volunteer Story: Sara El Saied

Inspiring Youth Volunteerism

By Clarice Nassif Ransom, Volunteer

Volunteer: Sara El Saied
Resides: Springfield, Virginia
Profession: Business Development Coordinator, Association of Women’s Health, Obstetrics, and Neonatal Nurses
Length of Volunteer Service: 2 years, and continuing

What inspired you to volunteer for the American Red Cross?

I think what inspired me to volunteer for the American Red Cross is its mission. I have always been a witness to seeing how different people are impacted from suffering, whether it is from disasters to homelessness. I asked myself, “What is it that I can do to make a change or a difference.” A friend of mine was volunteering for the American Red Cross and inspired me to get involved. So, I applied to be a community volunteer leader. At the time, the American Red Cross at the National Capital Region was looking to recruit and fill a position for a youth program officer volunteer to support youth volunteers in Fairfax County, so this became my focus.

What do you do as a volunteer? Where?

I started volunteering by supporting the youth program in Fairfax County, connecting with local high schools and helping the schools to start an American Red Cross club, where there are continuous opportunities for youth to participate in community service events such as fire safety canvassing to hosting a blood drive to making disaster care kits. After a year and half or so supporting youth program in Fairfax, I was recruited to be the American Red Cross regional youth lead for the National Capital Region under the direction of Jessica Adams. Most high schools have different clubs and students are required to do community service for graduation. My goal is to identify and work with the students in schools to volunteer for the American Red Cross so they can continue to support their community throughout their lives. By becoming a youth volunteer for the American Red Cross, a student as a club member or officer has the resources to make a positive impact in saving lives in their community.

Why is it important to volunteer?

Last year, at the annual meeting for American Red Cross in the National Capital Region, Joe Madison said, “The difference between a moment and movement is sacrifice.” His words truly embodied why it is important to give back to your community. By volunteering, you have an opportunity to make a change in someone’s life.  And with the American Red Cross, there are plenty of opportunities to be a helping hand.

What are some memorable experience you have about volunteering for ARC? How have you made a difference?

Going on my first fire safety canvassing with high school students was memorable. I watched the students conquer their own fears, knocking on somebody’s door, providing fire safety information, and helping to get fire alarms installed.  It was amazing to see the students have a camaraderie with people of different ages and backgrounds that they might not regularly encounter. I was also invited to represent the American Red Cross at a National Youth Forum conference as part of a round table. I met two inspirational young students—one from Maryland and one from San Francisco making differences in their communities. One was working with a local homeless shelter and the other student, 11 years old, authored a book about what it is like to be a child whose father is incarcerated. It was a therapeutic way to help the child deal with depression after her father went to jail. The story of these kids making a difference not only inspired me but it empowered me by seeing how they were taking something negative and helping others.

What are you most proud of regarding your volunteer work for ARC?

I think what I am most proud of is how I have evolved not by the things I have done, but by being empowered constantly by the stories of many volunteers who selflessly serve others and seeing first-hand how they are making a difference in every person they touch. It has changed and recharged my duty to give as a millennial. There are so many people out there who want to help. I feel that I have found a second home through the American Red Cross and it has been empowering.