Mid-West Tennessee Volunteer of the Month, Val Deutsch - June 2018

Our Volunteer of the Month for June is Disaster Volunteer, Val Deutsch. Val was born and raised in western Colorado and served in the Marine Corps.  Once he completed his military service, he moved to the Miami, Florida area and eventually retired from the Metro Dade County Fire & Rescue Department after having served for a number of years.  When he retired, he and his wife decided to settle in McNairy County where he now resides with his wife.

Val’s primary role with the Red Cross is serving as a DAT member is his home county of McNairy. He reminisces how it all started for him when one evening Heather Carbajal (our chapter Disaster Program Manager) came to present at the McNairy County Fire Chief's meeting. Heather was there to impress on the chiefs the need for more of the stations to contact our chapter dispatcher directly.  As she was closing out her presentation, Heather stated that if anyone wanted to get more involved in the Red Cross, she would be happy to help get the process started.  Val decided to take her up on the offer and, as he said, “the rest is history.”

When asked to share what his favorite part in his service to the Red Cross has been thus far, Val explained that he has responded to house fires and flooding incidents as a DAT member and also been part of smoke alarm installation teams. He has found them both to be surprisingly rewarding and says he could not choose between the two.

When asked to reflect on a favorite memory during his service to the Red Cross, Val said two stories come to mind. He shares: “One of my first DAT responses, I found the client had obtained the use of an unoccupied mobile home, but could not afford the deposit required to get the power hooked up.  The direct client assistance provided her with the means to start rebuilding her life.  Such a small thing, but so important to her!”

He continues: “Also, during our smoke alarm installations, we met a couple who had retired and moved down from the northeast and were planning on opening their home to foster children.  They had moved into an older wood frame home with five bedrooms but no smoke alarms.  We showed up on a Friday afternoon and got the house up to code just three days before the scheduled DHS inspector's visit.”

It’s stories like the two above that remind us why our chapter is so fortunate to have Val on our volunteer team! Please join us in congratulating him as a very deserving recipient of our Volunteer of the Month award!