My Red Cross Story: Jackie Rivera

By Clarice Nassif Ransom, Volunteer

Volunteer: Jackie Rivera
Years of American Red Cross Volunteer Service: 2 years and counting (plus as a military spouse and in high school)
Resides: Aldie, Virginia
Profession: Accountant, retired; military spouse; mom

Advice: “I think my best advice is that if you want to help others, you have to let go of some of the things happening in your own life, not dwell on what is bothering you in your life, but to be there for others who are experiencing the worst time and help them respond and make it through to the next day.”

Public service has always been a part of Jackie Rivera’s life. As a child, Jackie grew up in a military family – her father was in the Army, as was her grandfather – and Jackie saw firsthand the importance of serving others. Jackie started volunteering for the American Red Cross as a lifeguard when she was in high school. Jackie’s next volunteer stint with the American Red Cross was as a military spouse with two children – she became the American Red Cross chapter chairman in Izmir, Turkey, managing a swimming pool on the military base where her husband served as an officer. Now, a retiree, Jackie is once again volunteering for the American Red Cross doing what she loves the most in life – helping people.

“I think if you have the capability and the capacity to help someone else you should,” said Jackie.

“I have instilled this belief in my daughters. We have a cute family story. When my youngest daughter Kathryn was taking a lifeguard class in Izmir, Turkey, my oldest daughter was the instructor, and I was American Red Cross chairman managing the swimming pool on base. When we came back to the United States, people had a hard time accepting Kathryn’s lifeguard training because the certificate was signed by Margarot Rivera, instructor, and Jackie Rivera, American Red Cross chairman – all with the same last name. Now, Kathryn is a police officer, and her job is to help people and to put away the bad guys, which is also helping people. Margarot has been an American Red Cross volunteer for more than 20 years. She is a CPR instructor, lifeguard instructor, and water safety instructor.”

Jackie, who rejoined the American Red Cross volunteer ranks two years ago, responds to local fires in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area as part of the American Red Cross Disaster Action Team (DAT). Jackie is on call 24/7, and when needed, which can be anytime day or night, drives to the location of the fire to help those affected. Jackie’s job is to talk to the those affected, keep them calm, and provide resources such as a cash card so their immediate needs can be addressed – which can include finding a place to sleep at a hotel the next night, being able to go to the grocery store for food, and buy clothing or shoes.

“Most of the time, people escape a fire with just the clothes on their backs and nothing else, and the American Red Cross is a safety net to help them make it through the day,” said Jackie. “I like helping people make it through their worst time.” Jackie recently helped organize one of the American Red Cross’ Sound the Alarm events, which was aimed at installing 100,000 smoke detectors in one month this Spring in people’s homes nationwide, especially the elderly and other at-risk communities.

Jackie also deploys to locations nationwide to help respond to disasters such as floods and wildfires, delivering supplies to victims and working in American Red Cross shelters established to help displaced people.

“My first out-of-state deployment was with the American Red Cross logistics’ team in Kentucky, where we went out in large trucks and distributed supplies for people to use to clean up after the floods,” said Jackie.

“We delivered a clean-up kit that included a broom, mop, shovel, rake, Clorox, and rubber gloves. We gave out meals ready to eat (MREs) and cases of water. I interacted directly with those affected, and it jerked at my heart. We met some really sweet people who had something tragic happen to them, and the American Red Cross was there to help.”

Jackie also deployed to Wilmington, North Carolina, after the hurricane in the fall of 2018. On this trip, Jackie helped deliver supplies such as water, food, snack bars, and MRE’s to bulk distribution points, such as fire stations and churches. While she did not get as much direct interaction with individual clients, Jackie saw the positive impact the American Red Cross made on many in the community who were devastated by the hurricane. Jackie also served as an American Red Cross shelter volunteer leader during Thanksgiving, and then again at Christmas, in Chico, California. At that time, the wildfires, sparked by a campfire (the California Campfire) ripped through the community, destroying property and lives in its path. Jackie said she became close to the shelter residents during her Thanksgiving trip, and when she came home, she worried about them.

“I became like a dorm mom to the shelter residents,” said Jackie, who said the Thanksgiving deployment was for a two-week stint.

“People came to me to help solve problems. One elderly gentleman had cold feet, so I was able to provide him with socks. Many times, I became the person who would listen, and that helped the shelter residents. I became close to the residents, so when I went home, I really worried about them.”

When the American Red Cross asked for volunteers to go to the California Campfire during Christmas, Jackie was inspired to return, but this time to a larger shelter helping displaced men, women, and children. Many of the residents Jackie helped in Chico are on the road to rebounding. Jackie was thrilled to receive a letter from one of the residents expressing appreciation for the American Red Cross and thanking Jackie personally for all her hard work and making everyone feel someone cared, and was there for them, during a devastating time in life.  

When Jackie is not responding to fires or being deployed to help with a disaster, she is volunteering at large events for the American Red Cross, like Rolling Thunder in Washington, D.C. over Memorial Day weekend. Jackie helped provide food, water, and cooling tent shelters to emergency responders and the thousands of bikers who came to Washington, D.C., to memorialize military friends, family members, and strangers who gave their lives in service to others.

“I was in awe of the thousands of bikers who came from around the nation to pay respect to their loved ones and people they didn’t know who served in the military so we could keep our freedom and way of life,” said Jackie.

“One biker told me he came annually to Rolling Thunder. It was his 25^th year to ride and remember his colleagues and friends who died in Vietnam. It really touched my heart. The roar of the motorcycles, sounding off in unison for our fallen soldiers, is an amazing experience and one I will never forget.”

Even when Jackie is not on official American Red Cross volunteer duty, she is devoted to helping others. Recently, Jackie had picked up an American Red Cross utility truck and was headed home – she needed the truck for the next morning to deliver supplies to an event. As Jackie was passing routes 66 and 28 in Centreville, Virginia, she saw one car stopped on the side of the road, several motorcycles, and some road crew workers. Jackie could also tell someone was laying on the ground. Jackie knew she had to stop.

“I heard someone say, ‘Oh, the American Red Cross is here, and it is going to be ok,” said Jackie. “It was the witness who was on the phone with the 9-1-1 dispatcher. The dispatcher told the witness to get a clean cloth and apply pressure to the victim’s wound to stop the bleeding until the emergency responders arrived.”

The witness gave a clean towel to Jackie who went to the victim laying on the ground. Jackie observed the victim had a large gash on the right side of the victim’s chest and was bleeding.

“I started to apply pressure and tried to keep the victim calm and awake by asking her questions such as what happened, and are you hurt anywhere else?” said Jackie.

“She kept trying to go to sleep, and I needed to keep her awake. The next thing I knew, the emergency responders were there and tapped me on the shoulder and told me to keep applying pressure to the victim’s wound while the emergency responders put a neck brace on her and strapped her down to a board. Then I was allowed to remove my hand from the wound, and the emergency responders took over. The victim and her friend had been riding motorcycles when a car side-swiped the victim and drove off – a hit and run. The fellow motorcycle rider was not injured, but was in shock.”

After the emergency responders began to treat the victim, Jackie knew the victim’s friend also needed encouragement, so she hugged the friend and then hugged the person who called 9-1-1. Jackie said one of the road crew workers asked for a hug too.

“The American Red Cross gives away all the hugs you need,” Jackie said she told the road crew worker and then gave him a hug. Although Jackie does not know the final outcome of the situation, she was thankful she was there to help.

“Something that inspires me to keep volunteering is being around other American Red Cross volunteers,” said Jackie. “There are so many great people who volunteer for the American Red Cross. Volunteering brings out the best in people – from all walks of life. They just want to help someone else, and they give of their time to help others and that keeps me going too.”