Letter from Southeast Tennessee Executive Director, Julia Wright - December 2018

2018 has truly been a monumental page in the American Red Cross history book. As the Red Cross of Southeast Tennessee takes its collective breath to reflect on the accomplishments through the work of its volunteers, we close on a year in the happiness of renewal, lives changed and lives saved, while we are sorrowed by lives torn and lives lost.

April brought much happiness in the Military Kids Serve Too event, with dozens of military families in attendance.  We are so blessed to have a great partnership with Children’s Creative Discovery Museum to support this important program. In addition, our Service to Armed Forces program provided over 940 services to military members and their families during a time of crisis.  You are our heroes, supporting America’s heroes.

In June, we celebrated 101 years of service in Southeast Tennessee by bringing on new board members and recognizing our existing strong board leadership that invests so much in our organization.

Moving into August, we saw a major success in our chapter with our second fundraising event thanks to the transmission employees who work diligently to make the Transmission Employee Charity Golf Tournament an enormous success.

September and October brought in another intense disaster season with hurricanes Florence and Michael, along with the deadly and devastating wildfires in California.  We deployed 13 volunteers to join an additional 245 volunteers from across Tennessee to help our neighbors in North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and California. Over the course of 2018, The Southeast Chapter has responded to over 261 home and apartment fires. We thank our dedicated response team for being there when help is needed, as you give from the heart.

In November, we welcomed our dynamic keynote speaker James Gagliano at our 2018 Heroes Luncheon to inspire the over 290 people in attendance.  At this year’s event, we recognized some remarkable individuals who embody the spirit of the American Red Cross.  This success can be contributed to our dedicated philanthropy committee, board members, volunteers and sponsors who gave so much time, talent and treasure to bring this event to life.  A special thank you to CHI Memorial for once again being our title sponsor and the many other sponsors that make this event every year.  Thank you for generous support.

As we close out 2018, we have one more opportunity to help save lives and impact those around us.  Please join me on Monday, December 24th (Christmas Eve) by signing up for our inaugural American Red Cross blood drive to be held at 4115 South Access Road, Chattanooga, TN 37406.  To register visit redcrossblood.org and don’t forget to download the free American Red Cross blood app on your phone or tablet.  Giving the gift of life, is a beautiful thing.