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Wayne Sundmacher with American Red Cross Southeastern Pennsylvania CEO, Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes on the day of his donation.

The following is an account of an auspicious meeting between Red Cross donor, Wayne Sundmacher, and Red Cross volunteers shopping for non-perishable food items at a BJ’s Club store in Hamilton, New Jersey. At the spur of the moment, Wayne stepped up to cover a substantial bill for Red Cross supplies to be distributed to residents affected by Superstorm Sandy in New York and New Jersey at the cash register.

He says:

After having spent four days without electricity or hot water, our lights came back on early Saturday morning. That’s just an inconvenience, and nothing compared to our friends who lost their home. My wife and I felt very lucky to have only lost some roof shingles, some food from our refrigerator and our electricity for four days.

As a State employee, I had some involvement in emergency management and was painfully aware of the plight of those left homeless by the storm. I was also aware of the great volunteer response by organizations like the Red Cross, and how they were endeavoring to meet the needs of thousands of people affected by the storm.

On Sunday morning November 4th, I was shopping at BJ’s Club in Hamilton, NJ, restocking perishable food items that we had lost during the power outage. I was surprised to find the aisles crowded with American Red Cross volunteers, scurrying about, collecting case after case of non-perishable food items. Their enthusiasm was inspiring, and I wanted to find some way to help, but also didn’t want to distract them from the important work they were doing.

American Red Cross Southeastern PA staff and volunteers shop for food and supplies at BJs in Hamilton, NJ on Nov. 4, 2012 on their way to Northern NJ and New York City

When I arrived at the check-out, I turned to find Red Cross volunteers with several flat-bed carts, waiting in line behind me. My only thought was, “What can I do to help?” Certainly, the volunteers weren’t set up top take a donation, so I did the next best thing. I approached the young man behind me, with an offer to pay for the first $100 worth of food items they rang up.

While I thought my $100 offer would go a long way, the very first case of food the Red Cross was purchasing rang up at $214. Sometimes, you just have to go with your heart, and not consider your wallet. Rather than try to split up the purchase, I just told the cashier I would pay the full cost of that case of food. I cannot tell you how good it made me feel, to know that food I had just purchased would be distributed to someone in desperate need, that very day. And the cost? Well, that’s a couple less dinners out, and a few weeks without doughnut shop coffee. I think that’s pretty easy to bear.
– Wayne Sundmacher

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Here’s a link to a great post on Wayne’s Facebook page where he challenges friends to make a donation of their own to help the efforts of the American Red Cross in New Jersey.

We are incredibly touched by his generosity and second him in encouraging others to follow his example. Thanks Wayne!

By the way, over the course of the weekend of November 3-4, the American Red Cross Southeastern Pennsylvania sent 17 teams of volunteers to New York City and Jersey City to distribute food and and water. In all, our teams distributed more than 48,000 food items and 20,000 bottles of water to residents in New York and Jersey City. (More photos here. Scroll to second half of set to see the store and distribution pictures.) This was just a small part of the large-scale response by the American Red Cross to Superstorm Sandy.

Inside the Red Cross Hurricane Sandy Relief Effort: A Volunteer’s Perspective

November 20, 2012

Inside the Red Cross Hurricane Sandy Relief Effort: A Volunteer’s Perspective.

Click on the link above to read a post written by a volunteer and employee of ModSpace who partnered with the American Red Cross to serve as a volunteer supporting the Sandy relief efforts.

The Red Cross bond with the community

By davecschrader

November 5, 2012

Uncategorized

This is not the first time Palisades School District Superintendent Dr. Bridget O’Connell has spent a few days in a shelter. Just about this same time last year during Hurricane Irene this school district opened its doors to the community. “Last year we didn’t have the same kind of power outages but we opened the middle school for showers and hot meals,” recalled Dr. O’Connell.

Palisades School District Superintendent Dr. Bridget O’Connell at an office inside the Red Cross shelter at Palisades High School set up to help people displaced by Hurricane Sandy. photo: Erik Knight/American Red Cross

The school has long been the center of this community where the district serves families in five townships covering 100 square miles. Dr. O’Connell sits alongside Donna Holmes, director of community relations and development and I in a dimly lit room off the main hallway of the building that houses those impacted by Hurricane Sandy over this last week. Their faces are wind burned and they pull small hand warmer packets out of their gloves without taking their eyes off their smart phones. “Tuesday AT&T was down, so these became paperweights,” she says with a smile, “it’s an awesome team I work with.”

A Red Cross volunteer assists Bucks County residents and other community volunteers distribute supplies outside Palisades High School Photo: Erik Knight/American Red Cross

As the weekend approached, it’s a juggling act. Making sure all of the evacuees are being cared for, along with volunteers from the Red Cross, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and the Palisades Youth Crew. There’s a steady stream of people passing through the room carrying boxes of food to the kitchen area. “There’s going to be stuffing and turkey and something with apples apparently,” Dr. O’Connell laments as a volunteer carts bags of apples past us. When I ask about school on Monday, she pulls what was a sheet of copy paper out of her pocket with a diagram on it, “It’s all sketched out. If power is restored ‘Plan A’ is to move the shelter to another area.”

Food at the Palisades High School Red Cross shelter in Bucks County, PA. The food was available to shelter residents and people from the community in need of a hot meal. Photo: Erik Knight/American Red Cross

As power continues to comeback on, many residents are coming to the school for a hot lunch, supplies like shovels, work gloves and water. But perhaps even more important is the sense of community the school is able to provide. “Just talking to people…making it personal,” she says, “things are still optimistic compared to other places (hit by Hurricane Sandy).” Donna Holmes highlights the importance of the students learning through service. “Volunteering like this promotes leadership. It gives them a real glimpse of what it takes,” she says, “student, leadership, service.”

Palisades High School Red Cross shelter residents Nikki and Sheila share a laugh while waiting for their power to be restored. Photo: Erik Knight/American Red Cross

Our time together passes quickly. As Dr. O’Connell puts her gloves back on and gathers the empty zip lock back that held her cold cut sandwich from lunch she says, “We set a very high standard last year and we’re proud of that.” That pride shows.

About 20-30 people called the Palisades High School gymnasium home following Hurricane Sandy struck Bucks County. photo: Erik Knight/American Red Cross

We walk back down the hall as Donna and she point out key players in this relief effort; school board members, the principal, families of students who are also storm victims but are volunteering. We head back out to the parking lot where cars continue to line up and get supplies. More pallets of bottled water are coming and going. It is a true community effort, neighbor helping neighbor, strangers becoming friends, kids learning to become leaders, all in the parking lot of Palisades High School, a community institution.

- By Scott Snyder

American Red Cross volunteer

Wyncote Fire Shelter Response: A Volunteer’s Perspective

By MW

October 11, 2012

Uncategorized

It was early (for a Saturday at least) when I got the call from Dave asking me to come to the shelter. He had been there all night and had fatherly duties he needed to fulfill. I was a little nervous as I had never been to an active shelter response and I wasn’t sure what to expect. As I got ready I scrolled through the Twitter feed that Dave had updated throughout the night. I had no idea the fire had affected so many people and it was just up the road from where I lived! Dave came out to meet me when I arrived at the shelter and updated me on the situation. Several of the displaced residents had found friends or family but around 20 remained. My job was to serve as the contact person if reporters wanted to interview a volunteer or client covering the Wyncote fire. I was also responsible for getting any new updates out to the public.

I ended up doing so much more than that.

Since it was my first time and I was hobbling around on crutches due to a fractured foot (from a sports injury) I wasn’t sure I would be able to help very much but I soon discovered that the Red Cross provides so much more than basic necessities. It provides human comfort and compassion in the face of disaster.

While I waited to hear back from a reporter I started to talk with another volunteer, Greg. We got on the subject of basketball, which as a Dallas Mavericks fan I was happy to commiserate with an equally disappointed Sixers fan. As we chatted, one of the residents joined in the conversation. We talked about our favorite players and moved on to football and he told us about his favorite teams and players. Our conversation turned to our families and he told us about his new granddaughter. Then he stopped and said that he wished he could show us pictures but they were all on the new smart phone his son had given him which he lost in the fire.

I reminded him that the great thing about living in this day and age is that cherished photos on cell phones are digital and can be retrieved. He agreed and told us that talking with us had allowed him, briefly, to forget about everything he had lost. He told us that the fire had started from his apartment and you could see the pain in his face as he relived the events of the night before.

I quickly changed the subject and Greg and the resident told me about their favorite Philadelphia stores growing up.

It was during that conversation I realized that what volunteers provide, more than a warm meal or a cot and blanket is compassion. Losses in a fire can be devastating and the Red Cross provides support. We reach out to someone who is suffering and ease their worries, remind them of what they still have and help them keep going. The ability to reach out to someone who is suffering and maybe for a time, ease their worries and remind them of all the things they have not lost and to keep going.

Volunteers – The reason we come to work every morning

By davecschrader

September 28, 2012

Uncategorized

I never need convincing that Red Cross volunteers are the salt of the earth. I know that already. I don’t need to be at an event to know how dedicated and committed Red Cross volunteers are. But there is just something about our annual Celebration of Volunteers event that makes what they do individually and collectively awe inspiring. No matter how much you already appreciate them, this event makes you appreciate them even more.

More than 400 American Red Cross Southeastern Pennsylvania volunteers were on hand for the 10^th anniversary of the event. It honors all Red Cross SEPA volunteers and the amazing work they do each year for disaster survivors in the Philadelphia region and across the country.

I know many of the volunteers personally. I’ve met them at disaster scenes or various functions. They all have their own reasons for volunteering. Each brings their own skill sets and strengths. Just like any job.Noel for example, received our Disaster Action Team Captain of the Year. He was so deserving and got a rousing cheer when his name was announced. He’s very unassuming and upon first meeting him, you’d never figure him for a take charge, DAT captain. But he owns his own company that does computer techy stuff I’ll never understand. He is a leader by any definition. And we are lucky to have him. There’s Jen, who is not only a Philadelphia firefighter full-time and Red Cross volunteer, but she also runs Red Paw, a non-profit that takes care of pets temporarily following a disaster so families can focus on their recovery. She showed up to the event in a sling because one of the dogs in her care bit her arm and the injury was so bad she required surgery. But that has not deterred her. I was tweeting back and forth with her a few days ago as she was responding to a disaster. I didn’t know about the attack. She was already back at it just days after the attack. She’s a better person than I am. There’s Sarah Shabaglian. I had never met her. She’s no longer technically a volunteer. But at 93 years old, she was being honored for her service to the Red Cross and our Armed Forces. She served in World War II in Italy and Okinawa helping our GIs and their spouses get back to the U.S. She was decked out in her full Red Cross military uniform. What an amazing moment that was for the entire room.

Noel with his Disaster Action Team Captain of the Year award at our Celebration of Volunteers event. Pictured with SEPA’s Volunteer Chair, Chairman of the Board and 6ABC’s Alicia Vitarelli

Jen with her special partnership award for her work with the Red Cross on behalf of Red Paw. Pictured with SEPA Chair of Volunteers, Chairman of the Board, and 6ABC’s Alicia Vitarelli

Sarah (Sally) Shabaglian received a special Services to the Armed Forces legacy award for her work on behalf of the Red Cross during World War II

I could give you example after example of volunteers with amazing stories. These were just three. The volunteers don’t do what they do to get awards and recognition. Many don’t even want it. But to me this event is about more than just recognition. It’s a way for all the volunteers to enjoy each other outside of a moment of disaster. A chance for them to reconnect or meet for the very first time. The Red Cross is a family after all. Sometimes dysfunctional, but always caring, always looking out for each other and those we serve.

One thing I am always struck by when I meet a volunteer for the first time and tell them what I do. They almost always respond by saying, “I’m just a volunteer.” I always try to nicely correct them. I am the one who should be saying “I’m just an employee.” I get paid to serve the Red Cross. I get paid to serve those who have been through a disaster. They do this because they love the Red Cross, they love the mission, they love helping.

Our CEO really struck a chord with me during her remarks at the event when she said the volunteers are the reason she gets up and goes to work in the morning.

“I don’t like asking for things,” she said. “But asking for things is my job. And I do it because of you. You and your work make me want to ask for things.”

That’s pretty powerful. And it hits home with me because the Celebration of Volunteers is a lot of work. Both in the planning and execution. A lot goes on behind the scenes. A lot. It’s hard. It’s time consuming. It’s comparable to Red Ball, at least when it comes to my role. But the people in the room that night deserve it. My effort pales in comparison to theirs. They make it worth getting up in the morning on days you’d rather not.

So on this day after the Celebration of Volunteers, we are already thinking about ways to make next year’s event even better and ways to improve the entire volunteer experience in general.

So if you’re looking for a place where your volunteerism is needed and appreciated. Where your efforts have a direct impact on lives that you can see. Where you’re part of a small local and large global family consider the Red Cross. Consider being the reason why others go to work in the morning.

Video highlighting volunteer deployments (4 minutes)

Mission Moment from Celebration of Volunteers featuring the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts (1 min 15 sec)

My lesson in inherent chaos during my 9/11 response – Sean McGarry

I was deployed, after working for the Red Cross for barely a year, to the World Trade Center operation around the middle of October to work in Logistics. The SEPA chapter sent so many volunteers and employees I can’t recall, plus its entire crew of Americorps members who had just started their term with us. Meanwhile at our own chapter office, we had dozens of volunteers working every day running phone banks because the New York chapter was overwhelmed with call volume.

It was my first time travelling for a large national operation, and from the first day it was an absolute blur of activity. There was no down time to relax and get comfortable, with my bag still on my shoulder I was whisked to a conference room in the Brooklyn HQ for an orientation, then brought to the logistics area and assigned my task: Transportation.

The Red Cross had well over five hundred vehicles assigned to a dozen or more locations on the job from rentals to chapter vehicles to personal vehicles. My job was to track every one of them, where they were and their maintenance status and rental contracts and who had the keys and where they were parked and how many new, mysterious scratches there were today. I was there for three weeks and by the beginning of November there were still vehicles showing up every day that had been there since the beginning without our knowledge. It was an amazing lesson in the inherent chaos of disaster work.

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Some of the chaos happened because when the towers fell, volunteers began driving from just about anywhere within driving distance to NYC. They didn’t wait until they were called, they didn’t fill out deployment paperwork. They just hopped in their chapter ERVs (Emergncy Response Vehicle, big red truck) and other chapter response vehicles (SUVs, vans) or even their own cars. The Red Cross also rented vehicles like passenger vans, delivery trucks and sedans for transporting supplies, shuttling workers to and from Ground Zero or to attend meetings with local officials.

Manhattan rush hour traffic is a nightmare in the best of circumstances, now imagine dozens of city blocks restricted, emergency vehicles parked in creative places and an influx of tourists like never before. The number of minor collisions alone was enough to keep me at my desk for hours every day, add to that lost keys, lost contracts and even lost vehicles! The days flew by, the supervisor who trained me left the scene three days after I got there which made me the “expert”, but by the end of my three week term I wished I could have signed on for another three weeks.

On a personal level, it was one of the most rewarding and exciting experiences I’ve ever had. The work was constant and challenging with only general guidelines on how to solve such unpredictable problems that arose, which encouraged and necessitated creativity and initiative. Fortunately we found ourselves well-staffed so some of my expected 12-hour days were more like 9 hours which gave me a chance to explore Manhattan for the first time. I could go on and on, so many stories and experiences, it definitely changed the way I saw the work of the American Red Cross.

- Sean McGarry
is still with the Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania as a Disaster Services Specialist

VLOG: Stan and Shelli Dunn: How 9/11 brought them to the Red Cross

Stan and Shelli Dunn have been volunteers with the Red Cross for a little less than 11 years now. They joined as volunteers following the 9/11 attacks. Hear their story about what they witnessed of the Red Cross following 9/11 in New York while they were volunteering for another organization at the time.

Remembering 9/11: Manning Home Base with Terry Johnson

On September 11, 2001 I was attending a client casework class at the SEPA chapter headquarters. The manager of preparedness came down to the class and informed me that an accident had occurred at the World Trade Center. Upon arriving on the bridge (SEPA Chapter’s emergency communications center) I saw the building that had been hit by an airplane. I told everyone that this was an attack not an accident. I based this upon the fact that the building had been hit once prior by terrorist as a symbol of American capitalism and decadence. Probably no later than a half an hour the other building was attacked by the jet airliner.

As a retired soldier, the attack upon the Pentagon was extremely poignant to me due to the fact I had worked in the building during my military career. This attack for me confirmed totally that this was a coordinated effort against our country.

All the phone lines in the chapter began ringing as soon as these events occurred. Many individuals from Bucks County worked in the facilities and many family members were trying to make contact. Additionally, all phone lines were overwhelmed and out of service in the New York area of operations.

: Vehicles were moved to surround the building in case of attack.

: Vehicles were moved to surround the building in case of attack.

: SEPA HQ was abuzz with activity manning phones and tracking evacuations.

: SEPA HQ was abuzz with activity manning phones and tracking evacuations.

: SEPA HQ was abuzz with activity manning phones and tracking evacuations.

: SEPA Chapter answered phone calls on 9/11 and began the process of sending volunteers to help.

At that time, I was a DAT (Disaster Action Team) leader. The director of emergency services, assistant director of emergency services and Chapter leadership wanted to be prepared for anything here at headquarters, so I was directed to begin the process of preparing the building from a possible follow-up attack. We took the vehicles present at the chapter and created a ring around the building to stop the possibilities of a vehicle type of attack. The entrance of the driveway was blocked and a guard was present manning the entrance into the parking lot.

The most important thing that came out of this for me was the fact that everybody wanted to provide some type of service at this time to the Red Cross and country. Every agency or organization offered some type of assistance to the SEPA chapter. Every American had been touched by this event and the best that we could do arose from us on this day.

- Terry Johnson
is still an employee at the American Red Cross of SEPA
he’s now the Manager of Disaster Services

Responding to 9/11 as a volunteer by Carol