My Red Cross Story: Marco Johnson

By Rose Ellen O'Connor, Volunteer

For the first time in 50 years, Marco Johnson wasn’t home for Christmas. Marco, a Red Cross volunteer, responded to the urgent call for volunteers in December 2018 to staff shelters in Chico, California, where one of the largest wildfire disasters struck residents of Northern California. The Red Cross Shelter at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds was already open for over a month when Marco arrived for his two-week mission, and the volunteers he replaced were worn-out. The California Camp Fire Disaster Response Operation (DRO) was a level 7 event, which describes the degree of conditions and recovery needed. This is the highest level of any disaster - equating to about 10 to 20 million dollars of financial support needed.

But Marco says he didn’t feel like he missed Christmas. His family decorated the house with lights and put up an 11-foot Christmas tree before his deployment to California. Marco’s family and friends provided encouragement and waited until he got home to celebrate the holidays. Once deployed, he kept in-touch between shifts.

“It’s really what Christmas is supposed to be about,” Marco says.

In Chico, Marco supervised and trained volunteers, overseeing the care of about 100 men and working with victims one-on-one. Marco brought a lot of expertise to the assignment. Along with over 10 years of experience with the Red Cross, Marco had worked for 40 years as a manager for the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. By the time he left Chico, he knew most of the victims’ names and stories. He barely slept for two weeks, he says, rising at 5 a.m. for his shift and staying a bit longer for shift turnover.

It was always cold and damp in Chico and everyone, including Marco, was coughing. He felt as if he were in a hospital ward, and when he got home, it took him many days to recuperate. It had been raining for several weeks before he got to Chico, and it didn’t let up when he arrived.

“It rained and rained and rained,” Marco says. “I heard that the sun came out for one hour after I left but then it started raining again. “When you went out to do anything, you walked out in the rain. Whether you went out to wash your hands or go to another building, to eat or go to the port-o-potty, you went out in the rain.”

The shelter was on a 43-acre fairgrounds. A sense of “not knowing what is next” or "how long will things take" permeated the shelter. The fires had been so hot they had twisted and melted steel cars and released toxins into the ground. Many houses were incinerated, and the properties were declared contaminated. Authorities let fire victims return to their homes one weekend to visit the devastation, but the rest of the time they were banned from the condemned properties. At first, no one could even walk the streets near their homes because the trees had burned at the roots and, especially with all the rain, were in danger of falling.

Marco encouraged those affected to meet with caseworkers from the Red Cross, FEMA, State, County, and veterans’ groups, and to continue to follow-up. Most were eager to qualify for relief, but still felt sadness at the thought of not returning home, and instead, being in a strange new location. Marco said they might one day return home if the properties were inspected and the toxins removed. This gave hope to some.

Marco looked for health issues and signs of depression and encouraged other volunteers to do so. Sometimes it’s as simple as noticing that someone is ignoring their hygiene.

“You’ve got to take care of yourself now,” Marco recalls telling one man. “You go shower. I’ll help you take some clothes to the free laundry.”

That would, of course, entail traipsing out in the rain again. Marco encouraged the men to avail themselves and introduce some holiday cheer to the shelter, like free haircuts, listening to carolers that came to visit, and enjoying special meals.

On December 24, Marco offered red suspenders to a trim, elderly man who had been walking around the shelter in a very oversized pair of jeans, holding them up with one hand. The man put the suspenders under his pillow. Marco says he would never have offered this man new pants because that would have been demeaning. New pants were available, but the client did not want any. As shelter supervisor, Marco kept the Red Cross team informed about shelter client’s status and habits, and even explained about the red suspenders. So, Marco completed the deployment, thinking the client did not use the red suspenders. The supervisor who took over after Marco left texted him a few days later to say that the man was wearing the suspenders. This seemed to be because the supervisor continued to follow up and care for the client and helped him to put on the red suspenders.

Asked if he found his work at the shelter depressing, he says no. He found it rewarding, he says.
“This was my reasonable definition of Christmas,” he says. “You feel like you’re making a difference. “You’re having some impact.”

Superiors at the Red Cross shelter rated Marco’s performance as excellent in every category, noting that “he worked with a challenging clientele in a complex shelter and did so with compassion and empathy.” Reviewers also noted that “most impressively”, Marco developed the staff to replace him. “Thanks to Marco, the men’s dorm is in good hands, but he will be greatly missed,” the reviewers wrote.

Over ten years ago, Marco spoke and trained at a leadership meeting in Washington, DC and afterward, a doctor from the Red Cross suggested he consider volunteering. Marco thought it would be a good fit, given his background in health management, and so he signed up.

Marco started out volunteering at home fires and other disasters throughout the National Capital Region. Soon, he became a leader of a Red Cross Disaster Action Team (DAT). His most poignant memory of the three years he spent volunteering there is handing a teddy bear to a distraught small child after their home burned.

He does not always deploy to local fires, but serves at shelter set-up for the victims and helps with logistics, disaster services technology, and staff services. He also trains volunteers and staff in how to run and work in a shelter and how to respond to fires, other emergencies and community preparedness education events. In all, he volunteers 30-40 hours a month for several Red Cross causes.

He’s also a community volunteer leader, working with other organizers to attract new volunteers, retain and engage those onboard, and enhance Red Cross’s presence in the community. He also teaches emergency preparedness classes and trains volunteers to work on the Pillow Case Project. In this program, children are taught about the dangers of fires and natural disasters. It was put together by the Red Cross and Disney, and children get pillowcases decorated with Disney characters and imprinted with a list of items they might want to bring in the event they need to evacuate their homes. In addition, he helps support the Home Fire Campaign. As part of this program, working with the fire department, Red Cross volunteers install free smoke alarms in homes of neighborhoods where there is a high degree of probability that those homes do not have working smoke alarms.

Another big interest for Marco is technology. He provides support for computers and other electronic equipment at disaster sites and events and trains users. This is done for the National Capital Region, including setting up and troubleshooting the region’s computers, radios, cell phones and other equipment. He helps at the Red Cross warehouse and has driven Emergency Response Vehicles (ERV), which carry food, water and medical supplies, to events as diverse as the Marine Corps Marathon, the presidential inaugurations, “Roaring Thunder”, and the 4th of July.

When asked how he relaxes, Marco chuckles, repeats the question and follows that with a long pause, as if he’d never considered it before. He mentions long walks, gardening and landscaping and then says he truly relaxes when he’s brushing up on Red Cross procedures or helping disabled veterans.

“I relax by reading Red Cross materials to keep up and be ready and prepared,” he says. “And I build wheelchair ramps. When I’m not Red-Crossing, I’m doing other volunteer work. That seems relaxing to me.”

My Red Cross Story: Joan Gough

By Rose Ellen O'Connor, Volunteer

On a cold afternoon this winter, Joan Gough stood with several other Red Cross volunteers outside a burning apartment in Prince George’s County, trying to comfort a little boy who was crying because he thought he’d lost all his toys. They consoled him by acknowledging it was sad, suggesting he could get some new toys and telling him he was blessed because all his family had safely escaped the fire.

Joan Gough, showing off a pillow case
 from the Pillowcase Project

When you’re on call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to respond to home fires, as Joan, 69, has been since last spring, some moments can be heartbreaking but it’s also so rewarding.

Joan, a retired Montgomery College counselor to students with disabilities, puts it simply: “I was able to help someone in distress so that makes me feel good.”

She finds it inspiring, she says.

“It’s seeing how the families come together to support one another and how all the neighbors try to support them as well,” Joan says. “The fire department is there and other people are on the scene. Everyone is there to help. So that’s a really great experience.”

Joan responds to fires when she can. Sometimes other people are closer and they take the call and she’ll respond to another one. When Red Cross volunteers arrive on the scene, they console the fire victims and get some basic information about the inhabitants of the home. If needed, they hand out “comfort kits,” filled with toiletries, such as soap and toothbrushes. If the house or apartment is no longer habitable, they provide the family with a voucher for short-term lodging, food and clothing. They also offer a practical guide on what to do next, such as calling to turn off utilities, and a referral guide for other services they may need.

“Most of them are very distressed because they have lost something. Sometimes, they’ve lost everything,” Joan says. “Usually, they’re so very grateful for whatever we can do to help them.”

Joan first volunteered for the Red Cross in the 1970s in Brooklyn, where she responded to house fires. She got caught up in work and slowly dropped out. She now lives in Germantown and rejoined the Red Cross almost two years ago, after she retired.

Her first volunteer effort for the American Red Cross in the National Capital Region was with the Pillowcase Project. She still helps with it about twice a month, especially during the school year. The Pillowcase Project is a free preparedness program for children in the third, fourth and fifth grades. Its goal is to increase awareness of natural hazards and home fires and teaches safety, emotional coping skills and personal preparedness. The presentations are held in schools, churches, summer camps and before Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops.

During the presentation, volunteers talk about home fires and whatever natural hazard is in season. In the winter they discuss winter storms, for example, and in the summer they discuss thunder and lightning and eventually hurricanes. The program was put together by the Red Cross and Disney after Hurricane Katrina. The children get booklets and pillowcases with Disney characters on them. The pillow cases also are imprinted with a list of items they might want to bring in the event they need to evacuate their homes. It includes a change of clothes, water, blanket, soap and a first-aid kit, among many other items. They color the pillow cases and discuss what they might want to put in them. They also talk about what the family evacuation kit might need and discuss smoke alarms and practicing home fire drills so they can get out of the home safely. Children are also taught deep breathing as a way to calm themselves if they get anxious in an emergency.

“They’re usually very enthusiastic. They ask good questions,” Joan says. “And they get to take it home and share it with their families. In this way, they become part of the Red Cross team.”

As often as possible, Joan volunteers for Sound the Alarm. Red Cross, in conjunction with the fire department and other community organizations and businesses, goes into neighborhoods with a high incidence or risk for fires and installs free smoke alarms. Many of the homes have either outdated alarms, broken alarms or no alarms at all. Volunteers talk about where a smoke alarm should be placed and where it shouldn’t. They also talk about other safety issues, advising against using space heaters when it’s cold or lighting candles when the electricity goes out. They discuss testing their smoke alarms and practicing escape routes.

“I think we’re saving lives,” Joan says. “To know that their house is safer so that they are safer and have a much better chance of escaping if there ever is a fire in their home – that’s what’s really rewarding.”

Finally, Joan has just started volunteering for a new emergency preparedness program aimed at children in kindergarten through second grade. She reads them the Prepare with Pedro Disaster Activity Book. Pedro is a penguin who goes to a friend’s house, hears three beeps and sees that the mother is testing the smoke alarm to make sure it’s working. He learns that when a smoke alarm beeps, it’s time to move quickly and follow a planned escape route out of the house and go to a pre-arranged meeting place.

The children practice evacuating from a fire, learning to get low under the smoke, which is represented by a gray plastic bag. After they get out of the fire, they go to a meeting place, which is set up in the classroom or auditorium. Joan says the children enjoy the exercise and are proud when they complete it. Volunteers also teach the children deep breathing as a way of keeping calm.

Joan is glad to be back at work for the Red Cross. She says she appreciates all the assistance she receives from other volunteers and staff who have helped her and continue to train her.

“They’re always on the front line,” she says. “They’re working with the people and their thoughts are always what can I do to help the people in whatever emergency or disaster it is.”

Join Joan and support our Sound the Alarm Home Fire Campaign in our community today: redcross.org/ncrinstalls 

My Red Cross Volunteer Story: Pearl Parker

By: Melanie Benson, volunteer

Volunteer: Pearl Parker - Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Length of Volunteer Service: ~ 1 Year
Resides: Gaithersburg, Maryland

Pearl Parker was introduced to me as a Red Cross volunteer through Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the largest public service-oriented sorority for African American women in the country.  Pearl has been a member of Delta Sigma Theta for 30 years, but it wasn’t until 2015 when her sorority partnered with the Red Cross to help support the Home Fire Campaign in our local Gaithersburg community that she became a Red Cross volunteer. 

We have never met, but just from our time together over the phone, I can tell that Pearl is one of those individuals that everyone wishes they had as a friend.  She is effervescent and her positive energy and obvious kindness serve her well for the role as part of the Disaster Action Team in Montgomery County.  Pearl shares that she was bitten by the “preparedness bug” years ago as a Cubmaster for her son’s Cub Scout pack.  After taking a Montgomery County Emergency Response Team course in 2011, she became interested in learning how to educate members of her neighborhood and workplace in emergency preparedness.  As part of the Red Cross Disaster Action Team, Pearl is a presenter for the Pillowcase Project in local schools, and participates in smoke detector installation campaigns to further the Red Cross mission of fire safety, awareness, and prevention.

Recently, Pearl’s engagement with the Disaster Action Team deepened when she responded to her first home fire call.  As one of a three-member team who answered the call to action that night, she describes it as a humbling experience.  Arriving at the scene of the house fire, the Red Cross workers cared for the affected family by providing warm blankets, assistance with immediate needs, and recovery guidance. Reflecting on witnessing and participating in the relief effort, Pearl remains in awe of the impact the Red Cross team was able to make by being there, and providing a temporary haven for the days ahead. “It was a short drive for me,” she tells me, “but life changing for others.”

Pearl's home fire response call further motivated her to stay involved with the Red Cross.  She knows that the next time the phone rings, she will do what she can to respond.  When asked if she has advice or inspiration to share with volunteers and potential volunteers she replies, “Helping others prepare or overcome a tragic event gives me a true sense of purpose.  In a world where it seems that we have little control, volunteering with the Red Cross helps me feel that I do." Pearl also shares a quote from Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, a fellow Delta Sigma Theta Sorority member, “Service is the rent you pay for room on this earth.” I couldn’t agree more.

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!

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 Story: Nazia Hamdani

My Red Cross Story: Nazia Hamdani 

Written by: Emily Goff, volunteer

My involvement with the American Red Cross began when I was in high school in Pakistan. The Red Cross was there for a blood drive. We were very excited and ready to donate our blood, and had heard about how this blood was going to save countless lives. We got to know what our blood types were, which was uncommon in those days. I still remember how extremely disappointed I was when I was rejected as a result of being underweight. But I was so determined to make a difference that I didn't give up, and eventually I was able to meet the requirements so I could give blood.

I started volunteering at the front desk as an admin at the American Red Cross National Capital Region headquarters, but my thirst to learn and gain knowledge made me want to try and learn to fulfill other duties within the organization. The Volunteer Engagement team is full of wonderful and amazing people. Teri McCormick, our Director, is not only a great person, but is also a great teacher and an amazing mentor. All the team members are very helping and cooperative. They help by teaching you how to grow yourself as an individual.

I have been a transfer manager, intake manager, have reported hours, organized surveys for classes, have worked on the Pillowcase Project and have worked with the Youth Clubs. Also, as a front desk admin, my job was to greet visitors, take calls regarding different issues volunteers have and handle email correspondence. Currently, I mostly work on data clean-up. Learning new tasks keeps me motivated and helps me to gain important professional experiences.

Last November, I got to be a part of the amazing fundraising event, The Salute to Service Gala. It was a wonderful experience – I got to work with the registration team. I was a bit nervous and scared about possibly making mistakes, even though I had been trained for it. It was also a live program, so the pressure was even more intense. However, it turned out to be a life-changing experience; everyone was amazingly helpful, and I felt like I was part of a truly significant activity.

While working with the Red Cross, I have seen how many incredibly kind and compassionate people are always ready to lend their incredible talents to the organization. The Red Cross is globally known, and people are always willing and ready to help out. The Red Cross is an inspiration for countless people who are interested in helping others and promoting human rights. It is an honor to be part of the organization.

Want to become a volunteer? Join us!