Mid-West Tennessee Volunteer Spotlight: Gigi Surratt - September 2018

The Mid-West Tennessee Chapter Volunteer of the Month is Gigi Surratt. Gigi is a huge asset to our Chapter and we are so fortunate that she walked through our door.

Gigi lives in Selmer, TN. and works at UGN in Jackson, TN. She is the daughter of the late Kenneth Surratt and Deborah Surratt-Taylor. She has three lovely girls- Kennessa, MaCaria, and Charity. She first showed an interest in the Red Cross when her father became deathly ill. In fact, her first conversation with Heather Carbajal (our chapter’s Disaster Program Manager) to talk about different service roles with the chapter took place on the day before her father passed away.  Gigi has shared how much she appreciated Heather’s support during such a difficult time of her life.

Gigi’s enthusiasm and charm made her a big hit with her fellow volunteers as she made an immediate impact on our chapter. This is especially true when she is serving in our Home Fire Campaigns and the “Sound the Alarm” program. She loves the teamwork and camaraderie and it shows in the passion she brings to helping families with fire prevention! She told our staff she would like to offer free smoke alarms to her co- workers at UGN. Heather gave her the go ahead and, a few days later, she returned to the office with 2 and half sheets full of referral names! Gigi is still in the process of going to her co-workers homes in her efforts to install alarms in the homes of all the names on her roster.

Gigi shares that her most memorable moment serving in the Red Cross with the Mid-West TN chapter (to this point) was the day her work was admired by an electrician as she was installing smoke alarms in her McNairy County community of Selmer. She explains, “He stopped what he was doing at my father’s house and said- I’ve never seen a person go into the community like you and work for free. You are a good woman!”

As many of you know, our staff likes to ask our Volunteer of the Month recipients what their favorite book or movie is and why. Gigi shared that her favorite movie is “Waiting to Exhale” starring Angela Bassett, Loretta Divine and the late, great Whitney Houston. Gigi says, “I favor it, because it shows how a woman goes through many obstacles and can still overcome them.” That definitely describes Gigi!