Service to Armed Forces and Tiffany Circle Red Crossers Deliver Holiday Cheer at Fort Knox

Kentucky Tiffany Circle Chair, Luly (right), delivers holiday baskets
to Fort Knox. Santa’s Workshop volunteers Amy and Ali (left and center)
help families select toys throughout the season.

Santa’s elves are hard at work making sure families experience the joy of the holidays! Kentucky Tiffany Circle Chair, Luly (right), delivered 12 baskets to Fort Knox for their Santa’s Workshop. The mission of Santa’s Workshop is to provide toys to military families who are financially challenged during the holiday season. With a little assistance from workshop elves, soldiers and spouses shop for the best toys for their children.

Parents begin shopping at Santa’s Workshop around the first two weeks of December. Volunteers like Amy and Ali (left and center) assist parents with selecting toys for their children. We are thankful for the Tiffany Circle members who donated and assembled these baskets. Tiffany Circle is a community of women leaders who advance the Red Cross mission by engaging and embracing women locally, nationally and internationally.

Candy Cane Lane is also offered on base for children of military families assisted through Santa’s Workshop. This gives the children the opportunity to shop for gifts for their parents and siblings. Elves assist them with selecting and wrapping gift items. Volunteers are needed year-round to help shop for toys, restock and organize the workshop.

We are thankful for the many helping hands on base at Fort Knox and around the community. These programs give families a sense of comfort and ease. We know the memories made through the Santa’s Workshop and Candy Cane Lane programs will be cherished for a lifetime!

Learn more about volunteering with the Red Cross at redcross.org/volunteer.

Recognizing the Service of Bluegrass Area Volunteer on National Philanthropy Day

Each November, we honor the importance of working together for the common good and the people who step up to make the world a better place on National Philanthropy Day. This year, we were proud to recognize Bluegrass Area Chapter volunteer Mary Rose Bauer on National Philanthropy Day.

Mary Rose embodies the spirit of the American Red Cross philanthropy as a rock star volunteer, serving communities locally, regionally, and at a division level. Her primary activities include providing care during disasters as a member of Disaster Health Services (DHS), responding to disasters big and small as a Disaster Action Team (DAT) member, assisting with sheltering during disasters, and being an advanced instructor. Mary Rose, as a former nurse and instructor, combines her innate people skills to provide countless hours of Red Cross trainings, empowering others to serve.

Mary Rose serves as the Kentucky Regional DHS Lead and the Central Atlantic Division DHS Deputy Adviser for Central Atlantic Division DHS Regional Leads, serving multiple states. She has been assigned to 8 National Level Disaster Responses, totaling more than 200 days of volunteer service dedicated to National Responses. Locally, she has served as the operations assistant director position where she lead the entire operations department. She has served more than 100 cases for people in need, continues to serve regularly as duty officer covering 52 counties, reaches out daily to clients to assist with health service needs, and mentors other volunteers. Mary Rose is also a key part of the Region’s Integrated Care and Condolence Team (ICCT), providing outreach and support to clients who have lost a family member to a disaster. Mary Rose embodies the mission of the Red Cross to prevent and alleviate human suffering and extending a hand to our neighbors in their time of need.

We were proud to honor Mary Rose on National Philanthropy Day, and we appreciate her and all her efforts to serve the Red Cross mission. Thank you, Mary Rose, for your continued dedication!

Learn more about volunteering with the Red Cross at redcross.org/volunteer.

Recognizing Denise McGillian, South Central Kentucky Chapter Volunteer, for Receiving our Regional Clara Barton Award!

 

Denise, receiving the Clara Barton Award

Each year, the Kentucky Region honors the work of several key Red Cross volunteers who dedicate many hours in service to the Red Cross and their local communities.

One of those honors is our regional Clara Barton Award for Meritorious Volunteer Leadership. The Clara Barton Award is awarded to a volunteer who has served in several leadership positions held over a period of years, and who has demonstrated compassionate service and extraordinary achievements that have greatly benefited our community or organization. This volunteer embodies the pioneering leadership qualities of our founder and president, Clara Barton. This year, we were excited to honor Denise McGillian from our South Central Kentucky Chapter as our regional Clara Barton Award recipient! Denise gave more than 1,801 volunteer hours in 2022 and celebrated her 4-year anniversary with the Red Cross in August.

When Denise, a military spouse, first joined our Services to Armed Forces (SAF) team in 2018, she brought with her a wealth of personal military family experience and knowledge. Her first volunteer position at the Fort Knox American Red Cross office was as an office assistant, which she quickly expanded to organizing the office, supervising the main office volunteers and establishing volunteer recognition guidelines. Denise has since expanded her knowledge and expertise throughout the many services offered by our Services to Armed Forces.

Always looking for ways to help, Denise trained to become a SAF Casework Volunteer, working with military families to make sure their needs are met when they are faced with an emergency. Denise completed all the online course training and was quickly promoted to a lead caseworker role. Since then, Denise has worked on more than 1,000 SAF cases.

Denise also developed a training curriculum for both SAF caseworkers and other SAF volunteers, outlining all classes necessary for each SAF position, which serves as an excellent guide as new volunteers navigate the training process. Additionally, with a love and talent for research, she soon developed a comprehensive resource guide and referral list to assist the caseworkers.

Recently, due to Denise’s expertise and knowledge of casework, she was asked by the Division Director for the Central Atlantic Division, which the Kentucky Region is a part of, to assist with casework throughout the Central Atlantic Division. Without hesitation, Denise again accepted the challenge. As part of her role, she now helps review and provide feedback on casework notes to other regions in the Central Atlantic Division, and jumps in to help other regions in managing casework loads.

Denise’s passionate dedication to volunteering with SAF comes from her love of giving back to her community: “We get to help so many people here. It’s just so heartwarming,” said Denise. “I love the opportunity to help our veterans and retirees, especially when they’re on really hard times.”

As a military spouse, Denise knows and sees the needs within our active duty and veteran communities. She is extremely compassionate, knowledgeable, and makes sure she uses all available resources to help meet the needs of the people she helps. For these reasons, we are so proud to name her as our Clara Barton Award recipient!

Learn more about volunteering with the Red Cross at redcross.org/volunteer.

Recognizing Eastern Kentucky Chapter Volunteer, Jamie Taylor, for Receiving Regional Volunteer of the Year!

Jamie, second from the right, after receiving the Volunteer of the Year Award

Volunteers are the heart of the American Red Cross and make up 90 percent of our workforce. While we are grateful for the service of all our volunteers, each year the Kentucky Region honors the work of several key Red Cross volunteers who dedicate many hours in service to the Red Cross and their local communities.

One of those honors is our regional Volunteer of the Year award. We are excited to announce that Jamie Taylor, a volunteer from our Eastern Kentucky Chapter, recently received this year’s regional Volunteer of the Year award!

Jamie has been a Red Cross volunteer for 6 ½ years. In the past year alone, Jamie has gifted the Red Cross more than 250 volunteer hours as part of our Disaster Action Team (DAT). Whether it was a home fire 20 minutes from his back door or 3 hours and counties away, Jamie always accepted the call and stepped up to help people in their time of need in his Red Cross vest and with a smile.

Jamie also single-handedly developed and grew the Eastern Kentucky Chapter Logistics team, working his way through training and in-person responses to become the Chapter Logistics Lead. He volunteers to showcase our Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicle at local festivals and parades and supports additional volunteer recruitment efforts. He also regularly volunteered at all the local blood drives and recruited for the DAT team while volunteering.

In addition to his service here in Kentucky, Jamie has served more than 690 hours while being assigned to multiple disasters across the country. Our Volunteer of the Year fulfilled varying roles during those disaster responses. He supervised shelters during wildfire responses in California and the middle Tennessee floods, worked as part of the feeding team during the Western Kentucky tornado response, and distributed emergency supplies while responding to the Oklahoma tornadoes. During the summer flooding in Eastern Kentucky, Jamie cut his vacation short to return to Kentucky to help with sheltering his community. After that, he raised his hand to help people in Florida by distributing emergency supplies after Hurricane Ian. Since becoming a Red Cross volunteer, Jamie has deployed to nearly 70 disasters. His goal is to eventually deploy to 100.

When asked why he joined the Red Cross and why he keeps deploying, Jamie replied: “I just really like to help people!”

We are so proud to name Jamie Taylor as the Kentucky Region Volunteer of the Year!

Learn more about volunteering with the Red Cross at redcross.org/volunteer.

A Life of Service

We want to take a moment to honor the life of Bob Adelberg. Bob was a husband, father, and Red Cross volunteer. He served his country as a Lieutenant Commander in the US Coast Guard Reserve. Bob was a member of the University of Louisville Athletics National Anthem Committee, held 7 minor principal roles for the Kentucky Opera, and served as Kentucky 3rd District Republican Chair from 1984-1990. 

Bob singing The Star-Spangled Banner
 at Slugger Field

We are privileged to have witnessed Bob’s commitment to giving back as he was a Red Cross volunteer for over 55 years. His impact on the community was undeniable and we will miss him. During his time volunteering, Bob saved at least 3 lives on separate occasions using CPR/First Aid, was a lifetime board member, and was a deserving recipient of many awards. Bob won the Red Cross Ina J. Porter Leadership award, the Seasoned Saint Volunteer Award, and the Volunteer Leadership award for Blood Services. He was a member of 8+ additional Board of Directors throughout his life.

Please join us in offering condolences to Bob’s family. We are thankful for the many years of service he gave to helping others.

Bob, heading out on an Emergency Response Vehicle to help
with feeding