Letter from Tennessee River Executive Director, Pamela Holz - March 2020

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” — Mahatma Gandhi

Red Cross volunteers are incredible people.

What has been so amazing to me since joining the Red Cross is the level of Volunteer Service that happens here. I cannot express enough how phenomenal it is to see the time and commitment that Red Cross volunteers put in to serve our communities. The heart and the service of you, wonderful Red Cross volunteers, is both inspiring and gratifying. 

You may have heard me say that YOU are our greatest commercial. When others see the joy that you have in serving as Red Crossers, they too may be inspired to get involved. The more people we have involved with the mission of the Red Cross, the more we will be able to reach out with that mission of the Red Cross.

Some new additions to our volunteer family are our six recently added Board Members. While these new volunteers may not work in the same capacity as our disaster volunteers or our biomed volunteers or our business operations volunteers, they too get to share in the joy of service. They are eager to learn about the work of the Red Cross, and they are eager to learn from YOU, our experienced Red Crossers. Will you help? Please take the time to get to know our Board Members. Share with them your Red Cross story. Help them help us reach out to our chapter by sharing with them the great work that we do.

By working together, we will all get to tell people about the work of the Red Cross. With all of us working as a team, we will better be able to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies through the generosity of the American people and by mobilizing the power of YOU.

Thank YOU for your service!

Letter from Southeast Tennessee Executive Director, Julia Wright - March 2020

Not all heroes wear capes, but some wear a Red Cross vest.  During March — which the president of the United States has proclaimed as American Red Cross Month for more than 75 years — the  American Red Cross of Southeast Tennessee celebrates its volunteer heroes and asks others to be a hero too by donating on Red Cross Giving Day (March 25), becoming a volunteer, giving blood or learning skills that save lives. 

Every day, families rely on Red Cross volunteers for urgent relief and hope during crisis. We honor their service during Red Cross Month and ask you to join them to make a difference.   

Volunteers represent more than 90 percent of the Red Cross workforce and help people every day — often after home fires, which represent most of the disasters that the Red Cross responds to every eight minutes in the U.S. Just in the past year, volunteers helped 280 families affected by home fires in the Chattanooga and surrounding areas.  

HOW YOU CAN BE A HERO: On March 25, Red Cross Giving Day, donate at redcross.org/givingday to help one family who loses nearly everything to a disaster. Your gift can provide hope and urgent relief like food, shelter and other essentials. Donations are key to saving lives because they fund nearly 100 percent of Red Cross disaster relief activities. 

You can also visit redcross.org to make an appointment to donate blood or platelets, register for a class in lifesaving skills like CPR and First-Aid, or become a volunteer for opportunities needed in Southeast Tennessee. Our top priority volunteer needs are for Disaster Action Team Members and Home Fire Campaign Volunteers.     

Disaster Action Team Member: When a disaster like a home fire displaces a family from their home, trained volunteers respond to ensure that they don’t face it alone. As part of a team, help local families by wrapping a blanket around their shoulders, addressing urgent their needs like food and a safe place to stay, and connecting them with recovery assistance.  

Home Fire Campaign Volunteer: Want to spend a rewarding day teaming with fellow volunteers to help local families in need? Install free smoke alarms and help residents create home fire escape plans through the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, which has saved hundreds of lives.  

Sound the Alarm, Save a Life: This event is scheduled for Saturday, April 18.  To get involved you can register to volunteer at soundthealarm.org/Tennessee. I hope you will join us in this important lifesaving mission. 

Letter from Northeast Tennessee Executive Director, Heather Carbajal - March 2020

Let me start by wishing you all a Happy Red Cross Month! I am so thankful for each and every one of you. I know there are a lot of organizations you could be spending your time with, and I am honored that you have chosen to serve with us. I’d like to give a special thank you to those who have supported our disaster clients with their home fires and localized flooding. Our case load has seen a tremendous increase as the weather got colder, and I am so proud of the enthusiasm, kindness and compassion I have seen from you all. 

Spring is just around the corner, and we have a lot of exciting events coming up, including our All Volunteer Meeting on March 2, a “Stop the Bleed” training on March 13, and a Shelter Drill on March 14. We are also gearing up for our annual Sound the Alarm, Save A Life Campaign kick-off on April 18 in Kingsport. We will need all hands-on deck to make this year’s event a success and would love your support. If you haven’t registered yet, you can sign up at this link: SoundTheAlarm.org/Tennessee

As we continue to live out our mission, I want to encourage you to be relentlessly kind: not only to our clients, but to yourselves and your fellow volunteers. 

Volunteer Highlight from Flint Clouse, Regional Volunteer Services Officer - March 2020

Thanks for how you welcome new volunteers. 

What you do matters.  You have the power to lift someone up.  You have the power to be a change leader.   You have the power to be a great ambassador for the Red Cross.  Thank you for sharing your Red Cross stories.

Please remember that our staff includes employees and volunteers.  Our teamwork is integral to successfully deliver our mission. 

April marks Volunteer Appreciation month, but from the surveys, we hear that our staff is working year-round to let you know how much we appreciate your help by listening to your feedback, giving you opportunities to develop and reminding you how important you are to the people we serve.

 As ambassadors for the Red Cross, some of you have asked how our new volunteers have connected to us:

1. Red Cross Website 
2. Asked by friends/family/staff  
3. Online Search 
4. Employer 
5. Community Event 
6. TV/Radio/Newspaper 
7. Social Media 
8. Faith Based Organization or Civic Group 
9. Flyer 

Please consider sharing your Red Cross story this month with your local Chapter Executive Director, through Facebook or by talking to a friend that you think would be a good fit of our mission.  If you would like to learn more about the Friends and Family Referral program, please contact me at flint.clouse@redcross.org or 615-653-3625.

Thank you for representing the Red Cross.

Letter from Mid-West Tennessee Executive Director, David Hicks - March 2020

Happy New Year Mid-West Tennessee Chapter volunteers! It may seem strange to hear me say that this late into the new year, but this is the first newsletter to be distributed in 2020, so… why not? I hope that each of you have enjoyed a great start to 2020 and have already enjoyed your service in our Red Cross chapter as we are already on the doorstep of March. I honestly believe this year is going by even faster than last year did- and I didn’t think that was even possible.

The next time each of you receive my next newsletter article, we’ll already be on the doorstep of two of our chapter’s main annual events. First, our “Sound the Alarm, Save a Life” home fire campaign will take place on Saturday, April 18 from 9:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m. It will be hosted by the City of Jackson Fire Department and the Madison County Fire Department. They will both serve as our primary event partners and we are so thankful for their support and resources. Our smoke alarm install goal for that day will be 250. Please note, we will have a neighborhood canvassing exercise on the Saturday morning prior (Saturday, April 11) from 9:00 a.m. to noon as we distribute door hangers and place signs in the two targeted neighborhoods to generate awareness and recruit prospects for our event coming up the following Saturday. Please make plans to join us for both weekends if your schedule allows.

Our chapter’s annual Heroes Luncheon showcase event is coming up at the end of April on Wednesday, April 29 from 11:30 a.m.- 1:00 p.m. at the Grant Center event venue on the campus of Union University. Please come join us as we take a moment to look back over our chapter’s fiscal year (July 1 – June 30) and celebrate our chapter’s activities and accomplishments. We’ll also highlight those individuals who helped make us successful and went above and beyond in their commitment level to the American Red Cross. This year’s program theme will center around celebrating our partnerships with the Emergency Management Agencies in our chapter’s 14 county territory- and specifically the directors that we work so closely alongside. As always, this will be a meaningful time together with your volunteer peers and the community and you will not want to miss this event.

I think that you will agree with me when I say that we have more than enough on our plate over the next couple of months with the intense amount of planning and preparation that both of these events will require in order to make them each successful, along with all of our other chapter duties that don’t slow down from day to day, week to week (home fire responses, Services to the Armed Forces activities, Pillowcase Project presentations, Red Cross training and development, etc., etc.). Let’s buckle up and kick off this first quarter of 2020 in style!

Letter from Heart of Tennessee Executive Director, Tara Stone - March 2020

Heart of Tennessee Volunteer Receives Governor’s Volunteer Stars Award  

Anita Murrell

On February 9, 2020, Anita Murrell received the Governor’s Volunteer Stars Award (GVSA) representing Rutherford County. Murrell received the award for her work with the Heart of Tennessee chapter of the American Red Cross. The GVSA is an initiative from Volunteer Tennessee that seeks to recognize outstanding volunteers from each of Tennessee’s 95 counties. 

Anita has been a volunteer for four years logging thousands of volunteer hours, not including her many Disaster Relief Operations in Tennessee and across the United States where she serves as a Volunteer Partner - Disaster Program Manager. She has proven to be valuable in multiple areas of service assisting in training, client services, recruitment, and logistics continuing to move the Red Cross mission forward. 

The eligibility requirements for the award states, “Any individual whose volunteer activities in Tennessee benefit the community or the State of Tennessee in a substantial, important, or unique way” can apply or be nominated. Nominees are judged in the areas of Need, Action, Innovation and Impact. Anita represents all of these areas every day that she represents the Red Cross. 

The HOT chapter has countless volunteers making a difference in the community every day. Their dedication to serving our 17 counties is appreciated by our team on a daily basis,  and it is nice to see one of our volunteers recognized publicly at the state level. 

You will find Anita in the HOT office most days of the week. Be sure to congratulate her when you see her. We know she does not serve for the recognition, but we think she deserves a thank you. 

Tara Stone
Executive Director

Letter from East Tennessee Executive Director, Sharon Hudson - March 2020

Celebrating Volunteers and Sounding the Alarm! 

The American Red Cross of East Tennessee is celebrating its volunteers and the work they do in the community during April, National Volunteer Month.  We will celebrate during our Sound the Alarm, Save a Life Campaign that begins on April 18 through May 3. 

This year, the Red Cross and local partners will install 800 alarms and reach 320 households while engaging 300 volunteers.  We will be in the Inskip and Fountain City neighborhood and hope you can join us. We will start at Inskip Baptist Church at 8:30 am and end at 1:00 pm with a celebration luncheon. 

I invite you to sign up to volunteer and be a part of our lifesaving work. We’re looking for diverse volunteers of all ages and skill levels. You can visit SoundtheAlarm.org/Tennessee to learn more about the event and sign up.