National Volunteer Month: Join Us!

By Cathy Simpson, Volunteer

April is National Volunteer Month, a month dedicated to honoring all of the volunteers in our communities as well as encouraging volunteerism throughout the month.

Have you thought about being an American Red Cross volunteer? Volunteers are the heart of the Red Cross. Volunteers carry out 90% of the humanitarian work of the Red Cross. That’s 15 volunteers for every one employee. The Red Cross is always in need of new volunteers, and we are ready to match your skills, experience and schedule with our needs.

To begin your journey to become a Red Cross volunteer, take a look at the American Red Cross history and mission statement found on the Red Cross website. With the mission in mind, click on the Volunteer heading to view videos and access a list and descriptions of the many ways the Red Cross needs your help.

Some of the major areas where help is needed include: biomedical/blood services, communications/public affairs, corporate finance, corporate management and oversight, disaster cycle services, human resources, international services, office administration, preparedness and health & safety services, military and veteran communities services and volunteer services.

Needs in all of these areas result in such volunteer opportunities as helping at a blood drive; providing on ground disaster assistance; offering military and veteran assistance; transporting blood, supplies and food; writing communications; helping assemble packets and kits; participating in fundraising; teaching CPR, first aid or babysitting; and becoming a special events or special projects coordinator.

Location is another important consideration. Volunteers can work on-site in places such as, at National Headquarters, in regional offices, on disaster sites, in hospitals or from home.
Once you have an idea of your area of interest and determine if you want an in-person or from home environment, log on to the Red Cross volunteer website where you’ll find positions that fit your talents and your schedule. To apply and find more information, visit the Volunteer Connection site here and click the red 'Get Started' button. This will begin the process to join the Red Cross volunteer team.

The process to become a Red Cross volunteer is completed once you have submitted your online application, activated your account, read and agreed to the Red Cross policies, initiated your background check and completed a phone interview with a Red Cross intake volunteer.

Being a Red Cross volunteer gives you the opportunity to meet new people and learn new skills while you are making a difference. The American Red Cross values your time and skills. We look forward to your joining our team.

For more information on how to volunteer, click here!

My Red Cross Story: Joe Rollo

Written by: Rosalind SE Carney, Volunteer

Over a year later, Joe Rollo recalls his Hurricane Harvey disaster relief experience.

Joe Rollo has been a volunteer with the American Red Cross since he retired in 2015. As the former Director for Psychological Services in the Prince George’s County, MD, Police Department, he has extensive experience in emergency response and mental health counseling services. Joe’s primary interest with the Red Cross is volunteering with the Reconnection Workshops that help service members reintegrate into the family dynamic when they return from deployment.

Joe is also trained in disaster relief and deployed to Houston, Texas, during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Given his background, his role as a volunteer in Houston was to provide psychological support to those affected by Hurricane Harvey, and provide emotional support to other Red Cross volunteers.

In September 2017, Joe arrived at the George Brown Convention Center in Houston, a city where his son and wife’s family lives. For the next ten days, Joe saw the exemplary work of the Houston Police Department, especially considering one of their officers had died as a result of his hurricane relief efforts.

3rd from the right: Joe Rollo

Joe describes how many of the people who sought refuge at the Convention Center shelter were not displaced from their homes – they were homeless. He noted that people in the shelter were remarkably cooperative despite the challenging conditions; there was a sense of appreciation between people. The children who were displaced from their homes or who were homeless were particularly resilient. In fact, the children seemed more adaptable than their parents, perhaps as they did not fully grasp the gravity of the situation.

Out of those unfortunate conditions, some positive events occurred.

Many homeless people were veterans, including a group of six Vietnam veterans. While under the care of the Red Cross, homeless people received regular meals and medical checkups they would otherwise not have had. Importantly, the veterans received information regarding specific Red Cross services available to them of which they were unaware. Two of the homeless Vietnam veterans reconnected with their children, who had been displaced from their homes by Hurricane Harvey.

A number of National Guard members who helped at the Center had previously been deployed to Iran and Afghanistan. A fraternity developed between the veterans and the younger members of the military. A spirit of working together also formed between the Red Cross volunteers, the Southern Baptists who provided food, and an Islamic group that works nationally with flood victims.

From the experience in Houston, Joe gained an increased sense of trust, compassion, and gratitude. He had lost colleagues in both the law enforcement and the military, and the Red Cross has helped him to find another family.

My Red Cross Story: Judy Murphy

By Rose Ellen O'Connor, Volunteer

Arthritis in her knees and a hip forces Judy Murphy to walk with a cane, but it doesn’t stop her from dashing to the site of disasters, sometimes as often as three times in 24 hours. At 62, Judy, a retired school teacher who lives with her two dogs in Woodbridge, Virginia, is driven by a desire to be useful and a Christian faith that encourages her to help others. She is on-call around the clock for the American Red Cross in Prince William County, Virginia, to help those affected by home fires, floods and other catastrophes.

“It’s all about still finding ways to be able to be useful as a volunteer. You can do this at any age,” Judy says. “I like to help people. I like to know that I’m giving help that’s really needed, that I’m serving a useful purpose.”

A few years back when arthritis struck, Judy started bringing two fold-up canvas chairs to disaster sites because she could no longer stand for long periods of time or get up from the curb once she sat down. It worked out well because disaster clients could sit down next to Judy and collect themselves. Other volunteers followed Judy’s lead and started bringing chairs.

Judy is also certified to drive ERVs (Emergency Response Vehicles), which provides water, coffee, tea and snacks to the disaster site, as well as other supplies, including blankets, and “comfort kits” of toiletries. She started having trouble getting in and out of the cargo area of the ERV and bought a short stool to help herself get in and out of the vehicle.

“There are always work-arounds,” Judy says.

Judy is a Disaster Action Team Lead. It is not uncommon for her to be at one disaster and be asked to go directly to another disaster as soon as she can. She’s a late-night person, she says. She may have gone to bed at 3 a.m., unwinding from a demanding day, and get called out again at 4 a.m.

“I have to lie there for about five minutes pulling my thoughts together and convincing myself that I’m really getting out of bed, and then I get out of bed, and then once I brush my teeth and start putting my clothes on, I’m good to go,” she says. “There’s something about the fact that someone is experiencing what may be the worst day of his or her life, someone needs assistance right now, someone is outside their home looking at it in disbelief. That gives me the energy to go.”

When she gets back home she always unwinds in the same comfortable chair, watching television with her “go-to” comfort drink, a McDonald’s caramel frappe. Sometimes she’s so exhausted, she sleeps in the chair until she gets up the next day.

At the scene of disaster, Judy tries to bring calm, kind and a listening ear. In the worst-case scenario, when people lose family members in a fire, they are often in shock. She asks them if they’d like to sit down and gives them a blanket, even in warm weather, because they can be chilled from shock. She decides what to do next by what feels right. Sometimes she asks if she can give them a hug and if they say yes, she puts an arm around their shoulders. She tells them she’s sorry and can’t imagine what they’re going through. Then she just sits with them. Sometimes they want to talk; sometimes they don’t. Often, their eyes are glazed over or dart from object to object. Eventually, she tries to get them to focus on the practical - making sure they have lodging for the next few days and money for food or clothes.

“I try to speak to them in a calm manner that conveys the idea that something is under control,” Judy says. “While their life is spinning out of control, there is something that they can latch onto that is under control.”

Judy says sometimes people find it easier to grieve for a pet lost in a fire than for a loved one because their guard is down a little more. They’re not thinking of funerals and all the plans that have to be made. The pet has died and the owner is thinking of what that animal went through, not understanding what was happening. Judy tells pet owners that she has two dogs and has lost a pet, but can’t imagine what it would be like to lose one under these circumstances. She tells them she’s sorry and asks if she can give them a hug.

“And I just let them have a few minutes,” Judy says. “If they want to talk a little bit about the pet, how long they’ve had the pet, I let them talk. That’s all you can do. You listen and try to say things that are sympathetic but sincere, not saccharine, not phony.”

Judy got her start in the Red Cross the summer after ninth grade. Her father, an Army officer, was stationed in Dachau, outside of Munich, Germany, and her mother was a Red Cross volunteer. She suggested that Judy volunteer at the Army hospital in Munich.

“My mom was my inspiration,” Judy says. “I knew that volunteerism was just a part of her.”

Judy told a few of her friends about the volunteer opportunity and they joined her. She volunteered in the pediatric clinic, where she started out pulling patients’ records when they came in for an appointment and getting babies’ height, weight and temperature. Eventually, she learned to take vital signs, such as blood pressure. By the next summer, the family had been re-stationed to Stuttgart, Germany, and Judy volunteered at the Army hospital there.

“It was a great experience because I had such a sense of responsibility and it felt really good.”

Judy has continued to work on and off for Red Cross throughout her life. Her family returned to the states when Judy was in high school. In the summer, Judy volunteered with the blood mobile, passing out cookies and juice, broth or hot chocolate to blood donors. She was trained to spot signs that a donor was about to pass out and to call for medical assistance.

Among many volunteer stints, Judy was a receptionist in the Fairfax and Loudoun offices of Red Cross, did community outreach two days a week at Quantico Marine Base, and worked with Restoring Family Links, a Red Cross endeavor to unite families separated by conflict, disaster, migration or other humanitarian crises. She still occasionally does community outreach at Quantico and Ft. Belvoir.

Judy first got involved in disaster relief when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in August 2005, not long after she’d retired from her teaching job on disability. Scores of volunteers were training to deploy to the Gulf Coast, but Judy didn’t want to go because she didn’t want to leave her dogs in a kennel that long. She reasoned that with all the volunteers responding to Hurricane Katrina, the Red Cross would need help responding to local disasters. Judy then joined the Disaster Action Team in Loudoun County.

She mostly observed her first time responding to a house fire in Loudoun County. The residents of the house spoke very little English. Judy spoke some Spanish and was able to help translate.
Judy left the Disaster Action Team in Loudoun County after serving for several years and joined the Prince William County  team in 2010. Her first call came at around midnight for a single-family home with one man who lived alone. It was winter and bitterly cold. The temperature was in the low 20s. The call lasted two hours.

“I just remember being extremely cold especially my feet but we stood there,” Judy says. “The water from the fire engines had created ice all over the cul-de-sac. We couldn’t get out of there until they came and salted the roads.”

Judy’s unpredictable, demanding life no longer affects her miniature poodle Missy and mixed miniature poodle Andy. They used to get excited when Judy was called out on a disaster in the middle of the night.

“They have learned that I’m going to leave and I’m going to come back,” Judy says. “At first, they wondered what in the world was going on but now it doesn’t even phase them.”

Interested in joining our team as a Disaster Action Volunteer, visit https://www.redcross.org/local/washington-dc/volunteer.html.