Daniel Rosado is carrying boxes in and around the kitchen at the Kentucky Floods Disaster Relief Operation Headquarters in Lexington. He has been feeding Red Cross workers for two weeks since the Red Cross began assisting folks affected by the floods in nearby eastern Kentucky. A Red Crosser with an empty stomach can’t focus on helping those in need so Daniel’s service is essential. It’s one of many roles he has undertaken, ranging from working in logistics to driving emergency response vehicles, back home in eastern Pennsylvania and in deployments since 2017.
“Every deployment is different. This is my eighteenth deployment. You develop that traveling family with the Red Cross,” Daniel said. “I get a good feeling from helping others. I was there one time so I know exactly what the feeling is and if I can alleviate that pain from somebody, I’m gonna do my best.”
Daniel knows the feeling because back in 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit his elderly parents who lived in the Rockaways, a coastal area of Queens, in New York City. It was the Red Cross that provided shelter and assistance to his parents during that time. “The Red Cross helped my family out and I made a promise that sometime in the future, when I was able, that I’d give back. I started donating blood at first and then began working with the Red Cross as a volunteer.”
To those who know him, Daniel is a hero who not only installs smoke alarms back home in eastern Pennsylvania, but has been deployed to Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and North Carolina, just to name a few. “My family always tells me ‘thank you so much for what you’re doing. To take time out to help others when they need it and not expect anything back,’” Daniel said. “We come out here as volunteers with no expectation, other than to help somebody out.”
Learn how to become a Red Cross volunteer at redcross.org/volunteer.
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