Red Cross Impacting Lives at Tyler, TX Veteran's Home

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

This month, American Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces volunteers spent time at the Watkins Logan State Veteran's Home in Tyler, TX installing wheelchair accessible raised gardening beds for the veterans.

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.

Since the partnership began between the veteran's home and the Red Cross in 2012, the Red Cross has been assigned Cottage D which houses ten veterans, two of which are bedridden, one capable of walking and the rest in wheelchairs. 

Service to the Armed Forces volunteer Julie McDaniel has been volunteering since 2012 at the home and has been hoping to provide the veterans with the raised gardening beds for the last several months. 

"The gardening beds will help get the less mobile veterans outside," said Julie. "With the gardening bed being raised, the veterans in wheelchairs can pull right up underneath it. I think this will give them a chance to feel like they have ownership of something." 

Red Cross volunteers Julie and Jim helped assemble the gardening beds

Julie often plans events for the veterans such as holiday and birthday parties, and says that she enjoys cooking for them when she gets a chance. Now Julie will be able to involve the veterans in picking fresh vegetables from the gardening beds. You can read here about Julie's dedication to the veteran's home. 

The raised gardening beds aren't all that the Red Cross has been doing at the veteran's home. Several volunteers dedicate their time to Cottage D, such as Stacy Gore who is head of the Red Cross youth club. The youth club came out to the veteran's home around Easter to hide eggs and enjoy a picnic with the men at the home. They also came during the holiday season to sing carols. 

Roger Middleton, another Red Cross volunteer has been working with one of the veterans on his dream to write and publish a novel. Roger, who is a member of the local writer's club, is helping the veteran get his work typed and saved on a computer, in hopes that the novel will one day be published. 

"We continue to be so thankful for volunteers like these year-round. The joy that these volunteers bring the veterans is such a blessing to see," stated Jennifer Cato, Services to the Armed Forces and International Services Field Specialist. "Volunteers make up more than 90 percent of the Red Cross and they're the reason we can work toward our mission."

Texas is home to 1.7 million veterans, the second largest population in the country. This week, between Armed Forces Day and Memorial Day, the Red Cross invites you to help us continue to provide vital services to thousands of military service members, veterans and their families each year, keeping military families connected during emergencies, connecting families with local resources and supporting wounded warriors and military hospitals. Join us in #HonoringHeroes. Visit Crowdrise.com/HonoringHeroes for more information.

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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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Happy Flag Day, From the American Red Cross

by Micaela Rosinski, intern contributor 

I love America. Our freedoms, our rights, our food…it is all amazing. But most of all, I love our flag. It would be safe to say if I could be the crazy lady in American flag outfits every day, I would be. The red, white and blue, the stars and stripes: it is great. 

As you may or may not know, there is a holiday just for the United States flag. Flag Day is celebrated June 14 and commemorates the day the flag was authorized by congress.

According to The National Flag Day Foundation website, Bernard John Cigrand, a 19-year-old teacher in Waubeka, Wisconson, encouraged students to find personal meaning in the flag and celebrate the “flag’s birthday.” Due to Cigrand’s work, President Wilson issued a proclamation on May 30, 1916, calling for a nation-wide observance of Flag Day. 


The Red Cross’ own founder, Clara Barton, held great respect for the flag. During her service in the Civil War, Barton helped raise the U.S. flag over the Andersonville grounds where she helped establish a national cemetery.

The origins of the Red Cross and Barton’s work are still visible today. The Red Cross serves those who fight to protect our flag and what it represents. Through a variety of facets, including linking military families during emergencies, providing resiliency training, and supporting wounded warriors and military hospitals, the Red Cross works to help those that serve the United States.

Today, the flag is as strong of a symbol for America as ever before. Many aspects of etiquette to protect the flag come with such a well-respected symbol. The following tips will help you display your flag with pride during upcoming holidays:

• The flag should be lighted at all times, either by sunlight or by an appropriate light source.
• The flag should be flown in fair weather, unless the flag is designed for inclement weather use.
• The flag should never be dipped to any person or thing. It is flown upside down only as a distress signal.
• The flag should never be used for receiving, holding carrying or delivering anything.
• When the flag is lowered, no part of it should touch the ground or any other object; it should be received by waiting hands and arms.

(Source: USA Flag Site)

As American summer holidays near and you fire up the grill and jump in the pool, safely, of course, take a moment to reflect on what our flag means to you. Display the flag proudly and have a great Flag Day!

For more information on Red Cross Services to the Armed Forces, visit RedCross.org.

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Flags for our Fallen: Memorial Day with our Services to Armed Forces Program

Photos courtesy of Kim Puritan, volunteer contributor

This Memorial Day weekend in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, American Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces volunteers joined other local service groups to honor our fallen military members by placing flags at the gravesites at DFW National Cemetery. Over 900 volunteers total showed up to the cemetery on the early morning of Sunday, May 27, to take part in this tremendous tribute.

The Red Cross team, made up of civilians, veterans, such as Harry Friedrich, and servicemen and women, like Captain Matthews, took moments of gratitude and honor at each spot where a person who gave his or her life for our freedom was laid to rest. An American flag was then placed in memory of each precious life given for our country.

To learn more about our Services to the Armed Forces department and how they bring comfort to our military members, visit redcrossdallas.org.

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The Power of One: Services to the Armed Forces

Written by Red Cross volunteer Amy Yen



For the past 69 years, the President of the United States has procalimed March as Red Cross Month. It is a time for us to come together as a country and reflect on how important the presence of the American Red Cross is to our lives, whether it is teaching us life saving CPR, repsonding to a house fire in our neighborhood or keeping us safe and comforted in a time of disaster. The scope of what the Red Cross does is massive, but sometimes the even more powerful perspective is taking a moment to look at how our organization changes lives one person at a time. Red Cross Dallas' Red Alert blog introduces The Power of One series in honor of Red Cross Month and the individuals that make the Red Cross so great.

Proud military mother Laura Tiede poses with a photo of her son.
Photo of courtesy of WFAA, Dallas

The American Red Cross helps thousands of victims of disasters, provides emergency military communications and saves lives because millions of Americans donate their time, money and blood to the movement each year. This Red Cross Month, we wanted to share the story of one of our supporters who knows that one phone call from the Red Cross will one day bring immeasurable comfort and aid to her family.

Last August, Laura Tiede, a legal assistant who works for Legal Aid in Fort Worth, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Days before she had surgery to have her gall bladder removed, her son Fred was deployed for his second tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Her colleagues at Legal Aid, where she has worked for 17 years, wanted to take up a collection to help her, but Laura had a different plan in mind. “I told them if they were going to take up a collection, to give it to the Red Cross,” said Laura. “Because if something were to happen to me, they would be the ones to contact my son’s Commanding Officer to get him home. Besides that, I’ve been watching what they do during disasters. The Red Cross selflessly goes wherever there’s a problem. I felt pretty strongly about it.”

Laura’s co-workers at Legal Aid decided to hold a blood drive in her honor on Veteran’s Day last November, where more than 30 people gave blood. That was enough to help 81 patients while honoring Laura’s son and other soldiers serving their country.

Although her doctors originally told her she would only have months to live, Laura has kept fighting. Her company plans to make the Veteran’s Day blood drive an annual affair. And her son has been recalled back to the U.S. because of her condition and is now due to be stationed at Foot Hood in Texas.

Laura’s commitment to the Red Cross continues to be a true inspiration to everyone around her. “I think it’s a great organization. I think everybody should support it,” she said. “I would tell people, if you had a disaster, who would show up? If your apartment burned down, who would show up? It’s the Red Cross. They come with clothes and food and they take care of you. The Red Cross is there for everyone. If something happens, out come the trucks, like ants. I hope everyone will donate and give blood.”

Thank you, Laura, for reminding us during Red Cross Month that one person’s commitment to our mission can save countless lives.

Since the Civil War, the American Red Cross has been taking care of members of the United States military and their families. Read more about how the Red Cross helps the Armed Forces and military families and how to host your own blood drive for Red Cross Month.

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Holiday Giving Catalog: Give Our Troops a Holiday Gift

This holiday season, give to someone who does so much for your country; give to a service member. When you’re writing your gift list, don’t forget to include someone who hasn’t asked for anything.

Show our service members that they’re cared for this holiday season by granting them the gift of comfort. Just $50 lets one member of the military know that you care, and you didn’t forget all that they do.

Military comfort kits provide a little bit of home to service members who are injured and are spending a few days, weeks or months at a military hospital. The kit is filled what they need to stay comfortable and keep in touch while they’re recovering — a phone card, robe, shower shoes, toiletries and an MP3 music gift card.

Take a look at other ways to give to our military or to the American Red Cross around the globe or in the U.S. in our Holiday Giving Catalog.

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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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