Erin Deery Post #3

     I hope that everyone had another good week at their sites! For me at least, this past week seemed like the busiest week of the summer so far. On top of the regular client load that comes to the office in search of aid from house flooding and house fires, there were also two major events held at the chapter this week. One of the Red Cross's biggest partners, FedEx (because FedEx is basically a part of everything in Memphis), just donated supplies to build 3,500 shower kits to use in our shelters. FedEx executives rolled up to our chapter toting towels, wash clothes, soap, shampoo, toothbrushes, and Ziplock bags to help assemble the kits. It was incredible to see how selfless these people were not only with their money, but with the time that they took to assemble the kits and pack away all 3,500 kits into our inventory. 

     While this was happening downstairs, upstairs health care organizations from all over the Mid-South met with Meritan, a company that helps people living with disabilities and the elderly. The meeting discussed with companies the best ways to care for these kinds of patients, and ways that disabled or elderly people can be active in the community. One of the main points of the meeting was how this population of people thrives when they have a purpose in their community. After people retire, they often don't know where to devote their time and are looking for a place to feel needed and helpful. My boss explained to me that this is one of the reasons so many retired people enjoy serving at the Red Cross. For many of them, the Red Cross has been a part of their lives in the past, either during a time of war, as a veteran, or during a natural disaster and they find it extremely fulfilling to have the opportunity to impact others lives the way that others impacted them. This chain reaction to me is why service is such a wonderful thing. When someone helps you, you are inspired to help another person. Even simple acts - writing a card for a veteran or handing out food and water to a family whose house flooded - make this community a better place to live.

     This Saturday morning, I'm not going to lie I was not excited to get up and be at the chapter at 8 a.m. It was the weekend and I thought that I would've rather been sleeping than helping with New Volunteer Orientation. While one of the staff members was teaching the class, I called the new volunteers to the back one by one to get them loaded into the computer system and set up interviews later that week where they could come in and discuss what kind of volunteering they would like to do at the Red Cross. It was pretty repetitive at first when I was just asking for names and phone numbers, but when I started asking about their volunteer interests, I had some great conversations with the volunteers about why they were choosing to devote their time to the Red Cross. 

     One woman has a son in the Army that is deployed in Turkey right now. She described how stressful it is on the entire family to have a family member fighting. She is not only constantly worried about his safety, but also is only able to communicate with her son every once in a while. She heard about how the Red Cross helps families keep in contact with family members in the armed forces and knew immediately that she wanted to help be the middle-man for families that were going through the same experience as hers. 

     Another man, recently retired from law enforcement, told me that he heard about the Red Cross through a friend who said that it had helped him "see the good in people again." He described that as a law enforcement officer in Memphis, it is easy to get caught up in the magnitude of crime. He said that when you can understand why someone committed a crime, it is easier to empathize with the person; but too frequently crimes just seemed random and that is the most difficult to deal with. He described how being in law enforcement, he always had to be suspicious of people, but now that he is retired, he wants to be around people that only have good intentions. He described how refreshing he knows it's going to be seeing families faces light up when he can be there in their times of immediate need. I was thrilled with his passion and excitement for helping others. His and the other woman's stories not only made Saturday one of my best days at the chapter so far, but also made me extremely appreciative for the diverse network of selfless people that surround the community here.