Chapman became involved with the Red Cross in July 1999, after moving to Kingsport, Tennessee to be with his family. For Chapman, getting involved with the Red Cross was about more than finding a way to pass the time.
“I was a volunteer fireman for years,” Chapman said. “I like to help people. Everybody helped me when I was growing up. I grew up at the end of the Depression and things were bad, things were hard to get.”
Throughout his 80 deployments, Chapman has helped people across the country after some of the worst natural disasters in the United States. Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Katrina, California’s devastating wildfires, Hurricane Harvey, and tornadoes in the Midwest are just a few of those disasters.
During one of those deployments, Chapman himself had a big scare. He had an accident after unloading supplies from an ERV, and suffered a concussion and shoulder injuries. When he returned home, it took two months for him to recover.
Despite the scare, he didn’t stop volunteering or deploying.
“I just wanted to help people and the more I got into it, the more I saw people needed it,” Chapman said. “People our age, if they’ve lost everything with no insurance, what are they going to do? How are they going to start over?”
Now, Chapman leads the Home Fire Campaign effort at the Northeast Tennessee Red Cross chapter in Kingsport, installing smoke alarms in homes that need them. He also volunteers with Service to the Armed Forces.
“We have a very good chapter here,” Chapman said.
Story by Chris Peralta, American Red Cross volunteer
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