Volunteering for the American Red Cross Makes One Volunteer's Heart Flutter

by Heather Wedel, Communications Specialist, American Red Cross North Texas Region

American Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces volunteer, Julie McDaniel says volunteering at the Tyler, TX veterans home is where she is meant to be. 

Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) includes linking military families during times of emergency, connecting families with local community resources, providing resiliency training and supporting wounded warriors and military hospitals.

After suffering a stroke, McDaniel, a mother of four, had to accept the fact that she was going to have to find a new normal. With her kids fully grown and her husband retired, she was looking for something fulfilling. Her husband, who is a member of the Patriot Guard Riders, a motorcycle group that travels to various events to honor fallen military heroes, first responders and honorably discharged veterans, inspired Julie to think, "Why golly, why can't I do something?"

McDaniel started volunteering with the Red Cross East Texas Piney Woods Chapter in June 2013 and wasn't sure what she would be able to provide for her community. She figured that she would be wonderful as an office volunteer, which she does every Friday at the chapter. Yet, when she saw an opportunity to volunteer at the veterans home, she knew she had found her place. 

"When I saw that volunteers were needed at the veterans home, my heart just kept beating," said McDaniel. "I couldn't help but think 'Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh.' I didn't know what was involved in the opportunity, I just knew that I wanted to be there."

The veterans home in Tyler, TX opened in 2012, and the partnership with the Red Cross was new when Julie joined the volunteer team. The Red Cross was assigned Cottage D at the veterans home which housed ten veterans, two of which are bedridden, one capable of walking and the rest in wheelchairs. 

"When I first walked in, I had nothing to go on, it was a blank canvas. I immediately fell in love with the guys, the staff and the concept. It was a twofer, I work with veterans that I greatly care about, and I work with the Red Cross which I also greatly care for."

McDaniel's role at Cottage D of the veterans home quickly turned into a type of activity's director role. With her cottage not being so mobile, she focuses on trying to motivate them to do things that are fun. McDaniel says she loves hosting parties for the vets; everything from Super bowl parties to decorating sugar cookies at Christmas. 

"I've never seen grown men have so much fun doing something so simple," said McDaniel. "We're family now, we celebrate their birthdays and I take cake and balloons. We even had a sweet heart dinner for their spouses and significant others on Valentine's Day." 

In the next couple of months, McDaniel plans to help build a raised vegetable garden for the veterans. She says that the garden will help get the less mobile veterans outside, and will give them the chance to feel like they have ownership of something. 

After volunteering at the Veteran's home for less than a year, McDaniel says that she's learned more about the wars now than she ever learned in movies or in school. 

"My guys are from all over, some were in World War II, the Korean War and the Afghan War. When they tell their stories, some with tears in their eyes, their posture changes, they sit up straight as if they almost want to salute you," said McDaniel. 

"Mr. Barker, the first vet to approach me when I started at the home asked me if I wanted to see a book in his room. He brought out a book, almost like a high school yearbook but instead a book full of documents and images of the ship he was on during the war," she explained. "He took me picture by picture, and I knew that this is something I wanted to be a part of. Mr. Barker took me under his wing to welcome me, he is my hunny bunny and I will be forever indebted to him."

McDaniel said that when she first started looking for volunteer opportunities at the Red Cross she was afraid that she wouldn't be accepted because of her stroke, or that she wouldn't find the right place to serve. Her mindset soon changed when she got involved.

"Under the Red Cross umbrella, there are so many opportunities for people. If you're interested in the military aspect, you can do SAF. If you're interested in disaster, you can join the Disaster Action Team (DAT). They have a place for everyone. It doesn't matter who you are - that is it, they just accept you. I didn't know if I was going to get involved but I learned that if you give a little, you'll get so much more in return," marveled McDaniel.

"Oh, and the people!" exclaimed McDaniel. "The people, the staff and the volunteers, they're like family now. I have never encountered such a group of people that are so dedicated and focused on their cause and the purpose of the Red Cross. It doesn't matter which group of people I'm speaking about, they all amaze me."

Last week was National Volunteer Week, and we continue to salute volunteers like Julie year-round. Volunteers make up more than 90 percent of the Red Cross and are the reason we can work toward our mission every day. To join Julie in Service to the Armed Forces or to learn about other volunteer opportunities, visit redcross.org to start your Red Cross story today. 

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Service to the Armed Forces Volunteer Could Not Imagine Anything Better

by Kassidy Ketron, Intern

Joy Morris said volunteering for the American Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces Division gives her life worth.

Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) includes linking military families during times of emergency, connecting families with local community resources, providing resiliency training and supporting wounded warriors and military hospitals.

“The Red Cross has an amazing ministry and I think it is far more a delight to my soul to be giving in this way than to be spending my time doing something for myself,” she said. “I mean, this is for myself. I love this. You know what adds more value to the way you spend the day than to hear someone say, ‘Oh, thank you so much for helping. I need help so much.’ What could be better than to reach out to someone who is in pain, or afraid, or confused, or feeling desperately alone in a very hard situation?”

Morris, who has been volunteering for SAF for nearly three years, said her job is to follow up phone calls to military families who have reached out to the American Red Cross to contact their service person.

When a military family has an emergency, they can call 877-272-7337. A caseworker will take down the service person’s information, verify that there is a real emergency and begin working to make the proper military contact.

“So they make all those arrangements and then they pass it on for closure and follow up,” Morris said, “And that’s where I come in. I have all this information, we have these queue lines that come in on the computer and I handle Texoma and Dallas and so I call each of these families.”

One case, she said she remembers particularly well was one about six-year-old boy who had gone in for a routine tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy, and ended up in a coma.

The distressed mother called the American Red Cross, and thanks to the quick work of a nurse, Morris said the Red Cross was able to verify to verify the emergency, and beat the 11:30 a.m. deadline by two hours to contact the military, who then got the father on the only military transport that would be there for a week.

“[The child] woke up and the doctor said he was totally convinced the power of communication and prayer, and having those people hanging on to his hands all night long — that child took strength from that and he came back to them,” she said. “[The doctor] said he couldn’t have done that had Red Cross not gotten that father there. It’s an amazing ministry to hear story, after story, after story like this where the presence of the family member, because of what the SAF team and the military did working together, literally saved the life of someone.”

Because of the amazing work the caseworkers do getting families in contact with their loved ones, Morris said she wanted to let them know just how much these families appreciated their hard work.

She spoke to her supervisor and began taking notes during her follow-up calls. She would then send these notes to the caseworker’s supervisor to let them know exactly what their work had done.

“More than once I have had a caseworker call me or email me and tell me, ‘We had no idea. I was actually considering quitting my job because I felt like I wasn’t doing anything that really mattered and then I get these notes.’ My gosh. For years, people have been doing this and they never heard the thank yous,” Morris marveled. 

She said she loves volunteering so much that when she goes on vacation, it’s as if she suffers from withdrawal symptoms because she’s not able to call her military families.

Even during her busy months, Morris said she is where she belongs.

“I do not think I have met finer people on this planet than I have at the Red Cross. The leadership is amazing,” she said. “They really, totally live out the ideal and goals of the Red Cross. Their loving and acceptance of people, they way they stand by people, they support their people and very receptive to answering questions or accepting ideas that one of us might come up with.”

This National Volunteer Week, we salute volunteers like Joy, who make up more than 90 percent of the Red Cross and are the reason we can work toward our mission every day. To join Joy in connecting military families with their service members or to learn about other volunteer opportunities, visit redcross.org to start your Red Cross story today. 

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Talking Service to the Armed Forces and International Services with Joshua Bryant

by Lindsey Viotto, intern contributor

After celebrating July 4, we wanted to highlight two of our core services – Armed Forces Emergency Services and International Services. Our own Joshua Bryant, Service to the Armed Forces & International Services Field Specialist, takes us through his position in the Red Cross and stresses the powerful role these programs play on a global scale. 

Armed Forces Emergency Services provides reporting and communication services through the Red Cross’s global communication and support network that links members of the military any place in the world with their loved ones. 

“At its basic level, if a family needs to get in contact with a service member while they are with their unit – whether across the street, on a boat in the middle of the ocean, or at a base across the world – the Red Cross can send a message and notify them of what happened,” Bryant said. “If the service member needs to get back home, we will also make sure to get them where they need to be.” 

Bryant devotes a lot of time to the Armed Forces Emergency Services, but an equal amount of time is spent helping others through International Services. One unique function this service includes is reconnecting families during times of crisis. 

“Recently I had a family that came to the United States under refugee status, but one of their children were left in the refugee camp in Kenya,” Bryant said. “There was no link of communication for the boy and that is where the Red Cross comes in. I am able to deliver messages from the parents to the boy and let them know everyone is doing okay. This is really powerful and a service that has to offered.”

The chaos and confusion of war and disaster can separate families when they need each other most. When this happens, the Red Cross joins the search across international borders, offering a unique service that reconnects families. In addition, Red Cross chapters help both adults and youth understand international humanitarian law and its relevance to our daily lives and issues we face as a country. Also, the Red Cross responds to disasters across the street, across the country and around the world. When disasters hit internationally, chapters provide technical support, relief supplies, and financial assistance to ensure rapid response and recovery.

Bryant believes these core services offered by the American Red Cross are essential to helping families keep in contact during crisis, and he is hopeful to expand these services to others in the future to reach even more families and servicemen in need. 

To learn more about Service to the Armed Forces & International Services, visit RedCross.org.

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Service To The Armed Forces Supports Military Members And Their Families

The American Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) provides important support to members of the United States military, help that includes financial assistance, counseling and a commitment to support our veterans - the sick and disabled men and women who have served our country through the Armed Forces.

But perhaps the most important support SAF provides is emergency communications to link members of the military with their families back home. SAF provides that vital link between families and their member of the military 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, no matter where in the world service members are stationed.

Ohio mother Angela Blair learned how important the SAF emergency communications program is when her son, Chad, was stationed overseas in 2009 and there was a death in the family. She contacted her local Red Cross chapter, the Hancock County Chapter in Findlay, Ohio, about the possibility of getting Chad home to be with his family. Angela reports she made that call on a Thursday and Chad was home Sunday night.

The military mom later began to learn all she could about the Red Cross SAF program and found it very helpful to her during Chad’s time overseas. Since then she has become an SAF volunteer and recently completed training to become a volunteer caseworker for the program.

Red Cross emergency communications services keep military personnel in touch with their families following the death or serious illness of an immediate family member, the birth of a service member's child or grandchild or when a family experiences other emergencies. Red Cross-verified information assists commanding officers in making a decision regarding emergency leave. Without this verification, the service member may not be able to come home during a family emergency.

“My Red Cross friends helped me through this latest situation with Chad,” Angela said. “I would encourage everyone who is going through the same life event I did to give the SAF program a try. It is so helpful, especially during a deployment.”

“It’s very important to educate yourself about what help and information is available,” she continued. “Service to the Armed Forces can help family members and new members of the armed forces with that. Taking the orientation is even beneficial for parents whose child is considering joining the military.”

Chad has just returned stateside from Afghanistan. Since his first deployment in 2009, he has been injured three times and received just as many Purple Hearts, the award presented to members of the armed forces who are wounded by an instrument of war at the hands of the enemy.

“My son asked if I would keep on going with my SAF volunteering when his time with the military is over and I told him I will do it for as long as I can,” Angela said. “It’s important for people to have a place to go to get an education about what help is available when someone is in the military.”

While providing service to 1.4 million active duty military personnel and their families, the Red Cross also reaches out to more than 1.2 million members of the National Guard and Reserves and their families living in nearly every community in America.

For more information on Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces, contact the American Red Cross-Dallas Area Chapter at 214-678-4800 or visit www.redcross.org.

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