Heart of Tennessee Volunteer Spotlight, Debra and Art Fuller - January 2018

The Heart of Tennessee Volunteer Spotlight this month is on the husband and wife team of Debra and Art Fuller. Debra and Art have been married 12 1/2 years and have 5 children between them. They are grandparents to 14 (last one will be born January 2018). The children are scattered around the country: two in Oklahoma, one in Pennsylvania, and two here in Middle Tennessee. This means trips around the country which is something that Debra and Art enjoy doing. 

Debra was a military wife for many years and was employed by the Federal Government as a civilian and has been retired for 10 years. Art was also a federal government employee for 42 years working with the Air Force, Army, and Defense Logistics Agency.  He moved around in the job, eventually settling in Tennessee working at Arnold Air Force Base.  As part of his job he was the Equal Employment Counselor, helping many in that capacity. Art is a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) volunteer to help oversee the needs of at risk children.  He has been on the board of the Murfreesboro Soccer Club for about 20 years, becoming involved when his own children were playing soccer. Together, Art and Debra are involved with the VA every Wednesday through a ministry in their church. 

Good Friday 2009 found Debra in the only room on the second floor of their home that had not been carried off by the tornado in Murfreesboro. Debra was saved by taking shelter in the bathroom. The Red Cross came, offered help to the victims and fed all the workers. From that time on Debra wanted to join the Red Cross because of how they interacted with the victims and helpers. It took her 8 years to volunteer, the catalyst being the hurricanes in Texas and Florida. As she says, you don’t know what comes knocking on your door, you need to be ready to help. Debra became a Red Cross Volunteer in September 2017. She joined with a smile on her face and willingness to work.

Art, who was not at home when the Good Friday 2009 tornado hit, saw Debra’s excitement when she joined the Red Cross and decided to sign up also.

Debra and Art are both certified emergency response vehicle (ERV) drivers for the chapter along with Disaster Action Team (DAT) responders, shelter volunteers, and disaster responders. In December, they headed up a crew to install smoke alarms in a Smyrna trailer park. Their work was greatly appreciated by the residents.

For the future, Art and Debra plan to travel and to continue in their many roles at Red Cross. Their words of wisdom are “get out and do it” and “get off the couch”. If you do something for someone else, it will put a smile on their face and yours as well. The Heart of Tennessee Red Cross is happy to have them with us. Thank you for your service to our Chapter and Middle Tennessee.