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.