Letter from Northeast Tennessee Executive Director, Glenda Bobalik - October 2017

Here we are already getting prepared for the Holiday Season.  Where has this year gone!?

I know that for the last six weeks we have been incredibly busy.  Our volunteers have been champions and stepped up to the plate to meet our commitments to the communities we serve. Many have deployed to disaster locations in other states, while others responded to home fires, provided information and referrals, or taught not only dozens of disaster courses but kept our schedule for the Pillowcase Project and more.  It has been hectic, but more than that, it has been humbling seeing the generosity of our volunteers and community.

I invite you to join me in applying that spirit of generosity to another group.  November 11th is Veteran’s Day.  Let’s start preparing now to make a special effort to thank the many veterans in our community for their sacrifice and service.  If each of us reach out to acknowledge the veterans we encounter with a simple “Thank you for your service”, we can make a tremendous impact.  It is so simple.

Veteran’s Day is a day of celebration!  It is a celebration of all the men and women in uniform who have served our nation and fought to protect our freedoms.  It is also a time to reflect on the long history of the American Red Cross in serving our veteran and military families, a legacy of service that dates back to our very origins.  Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross with the humanitarian mission of caring for wounded warriors, and today, we continue that tradition of service.

In 1917, 100 years ago, the Red Cross in Northeast Tennessee was serving the soldiers going to and returning from the battlefields of World War I.  Our history includes providing thousands of meals to soldiers as they travelled through Morristown, Johnson City, and Bristol on their way to and from home.  Today, we continue that service providing emergency communication services to active duty personnel, facilitating emergency financial assistance for active duty personnel, retirees and their families and through the work of our volunteers at the VA Medical Center and veterans’ community events.

This year we once again salute our Veterans and pay tribute to those tireless Red Cross workers who started our legacy in Northeast Tennessee, a century ago.

Honor our veterans.  Take time this Veteran’s Day to say “thank you.”

And from me to you, thank you for all that you do for the American Red Cross.

Glenda