My Red Cross Story: Eric Coates

By Sandy Habib, Volunteer

Three hundred and fifty-four hours! When you do the math, that translates to almost nine 40-hour work weeks - essentially two months.

This is exactly how much time Eric Coates has volunteered with the American Red Cross between January 2018 and January 2019. This is an extraordinary amount of time by any measure, but it’s even more amazing given that Eric manages to give so much of himself and still work full-time.

Professionally, Eric is a Safety Director, ensuring that structures are architecturally secure for people to occupy. It is through his job that he began his work with the Red Cross. In December 2017, Eric was earning his “CPR Trainer” Certification, which includes CPR, AED and First Aid. The course instructor was from the Red Cross and informed him that the organization could really benefit from volunteers with backgrounds like his - in Safety, Engineering and Construction. Eric quickly got involved and did his orientation course on January 6, 2018.

From there, Eric dove head-first, used all of his vacation time from work and embarked on a fantastic journey of Red Cross volunteer work that has taken him across the National Capital Region and as far as North Carolina. In Fayetteville and Wilmington, North Carolina, he ensured that safety standards at Hurricane Florence relief shelters met local and Red Cross guidelines. In Maryland, he serves as a shelter associate. In D.C. and Maryland, he installs residential fire alarms as part of Sound the Alarm, a Red Cross program that educates families about fire safety and ensures that they have functioning fire alarms in their homes. He also works on the March for our Lives LSAP (Life Safety Asset Protection) Go Team, providing support services as needed.

“There are so many opportunities to do good with the Red Cross. I’m going to keep helping my community as long as I can. It’s extremely rewarding to be able to help so many people in need.”
Eric Coates, Red Cross Volunteer

The volunteer opportunities that Eric helps at most often, though, are house fires in the National Capital Region. Regardless of the hour or the wintery temperatures outside, Eric goes to help local families who are distressed after their homes and possessions have gone up in flames. After spending a few hours (usually in the wee hours of the night) helping to get the family settled, Eric heads back home to shower and goes straight to work. He may need a few more cups of coffee than usual to make it through his workday after assisting at a pre-dawn house fire, but for him, it’s worth it.

Volunteering at these house fires with the Red Cross is especially meaningful to Eric. He appreciates how the Red Cross provides those affected with hotel accommodation, food and a debit card to meet their basic immediate needs. Almost as importantly, though, he finds it very rewarding to be able to offer these distraught families much-needed emotional support. He helps them relax - and sometimes, even smile - which is quite a feat in the face of such loss.

Eric proudly explains, “The part of the Red Cross that I love the most is that we’re not a group that gives a debit card and walks away. We do a lot more to get distressed families through the crisis.”

Even talking to Eric is an inspiration. He speaks about the Red Cross and his volunteer work with such exuberance. He loves meeting so many diverse people, and he thrives on the contributions he is able to make to help others. Even more than the extra cups of coffee, it’s Eric’s passion for helping those in need that keeps him energized to continue volunteering with the Red Cross. 

Want to join us as a volunteer? Visit redcross.org/volunteer to learn more about opportunities.

My Red Cross Story: Rainier Gordon

By Rose Ellen O'Connor, Volunteer

It seemed like a bad dream. Rainier Gordon was having the worst day of his life. Something was off kilter. As a Red Cross volunteer, he’s used to putting together kits and other items to help the victims of all kinds of tragedies at the organization’s logistics center in Gaithersburg, Maryland. He also goes to emergency shelters to comfort the victims of house fires.

Now he was the one receiving help.

On a quiet October morning, his house on Mary Catherine Drive in Clinton, Maryland, erupted in flames. His wife sent him an email telling him the bad news and he called her back.

“She said come quickly,” Rainier recalls. “The house is on fire.”

He lives in the house with wife, father-in-law and brother-in-law.

Fortunately, no one was home and no one was injured when the fire broke out in the concrete, 6,000-square-foot, eight-bedroom house. It apparently started in the walls behind the stove, microwave and refrigerator. There was a power outage before he left for work, and Rainier believes when the power came back on mid-morning, it caused a surge of electricity, which triggered the fire.

Flames swept through the kitchen, dining room and living room, destroying the roof and gutting two bedrooms. The other bedrooms received smoke and water damage.

When Rainier got to his home, he wasn’t allowed to go in and was frantic to see how much damage had been done. He held it together, he said, to be strong for the rest of the family.

“It was a lot to take in. At first, I was relieved because my wife had told me the house was gone. I wasn’t expecting to see anything when I got there.” Rainier says. “But then I was anxious to find out what the damage was. You’re in a state of just trying to figure out what’s on the other side of the walls."

“But then you’ve got to take control and make sure your family feels secure,” Rainier says. “They can look to you for strength.”


Standing outside the house, he worried that they would lose priceless photographs and mementos that filled their house. While serving oversees in the Army, Rainier acted as the U.S. delegate to NATO for 10 years and also as the U.S. representative to ABCANZ (the American, British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand Armies Program). He traveled extensively and says he was in a different part of the world every six months, and collected potteries, rugs, furniture and other treasures. (He’s now retired and works as a civilian at the Pentagon.)

When he got in the house, he discovered he’d lost a few photos but that many of the other keepsakes could be restored. He wasn’t upset about what they lost, except for the photos, he says, because he had a different attitude after his experience with a fire. He saw a lot of his belongings as clutter.

He called his boss at the Red Cross when he arrived and his boss told him he already knew about the fire and that Red Cross volunteers were on their way. They arrived about a half hour later.

He had a new understanding of what Red Cross volunteers do for victims of house fires. They helped the family think clearly. First, they gave them pamphlets that told them everything they needed to do after a house fire, such as who to call to shut off utilities. Then they gave them a credit card to pay for food, and comfort bags filled with toiletries. A checklist of things they might need was very centering, Rainier says. He learned to rely on others for help.

“What I learned is you like to be strong but when you’ve been through something like a fire, it’s best to be a victim because you are a victim,” Rainier says. “And the reason I say that is because people come to help and if you act like you don’t need any help, people leave and when they’re gone you realize, man, I could have really used this or this or this.”

Rainier says he’s gained perspective and wants to start putting it to use by volunteering at house fires.

“When you’re a Red Cross volunteer and you talk to folks, you can only talk from one side because they’re the victims and you’re the ones giving help. By me now being the victim, I’m able to see both sides of it.” He’s ultra-sensitive to how to talk to victims, he says. You need the right balance between offering advice and being a good listener.

“Not that I wanted my house to burn down,” Rainier says, “but I’m thankful now I can talk to persons from both sides.”