Clair's Red Cross Story

Clair Brendel’s Red Cross journey started in January 2015, when she was a senior in college. “I needed an internship, and I wanted something that allowed me to work with individuals and communities, and the Red Cross proved to be my perfect match. After finishing my degree, I moved on to serving as a program manager in West Virginia for 3 years before coming to Kentucky where I first served as the program manager for the Louisville Area Chapter before taking on my current role as the Planning and Preparedness manager for the region.”

“I initially chose the Red Cross because I wanted to be able to travel and help others, and Red Cross enabled both of those things,” said Clair. “I stay because being a part of the Red Cross means being a member of the greatest humanitarian family and mission.”

As Planning and Preparedness Manager, Clair works with communities and volunteers across the region to implement preparedness and resiliency programs. “Personally, the most rewarding part of my job is seeing our volunteers grow in their capacity to help others and serve as leaders,” said Clair. “However, I also have the honor of investigating our “Lives Saved” leads for the region- seeing where the free smoke alarms we install help people to escape fires that happen in their homes.”

Home fires are this country’s deadliest and most frequent type of disaster. Seven people in this country lose their lives to a fire in their home every day. Because of these tragic statistics, the American Red Cross launched its Home Fire Campaign to reduce home fire-related deaths and injuries. Since its start in 2014, the campaign is credited with helping save more than 2,000 lives across the country.

For Clair, working for a nonprofit that benefits the community the way the Red Cross does is a continuation of the proverb “it takes a village to raise a child.”

“Some people may be entirely self-sufficient,” said Clair, “But most go through hard times in their lives where they need help. Being a part of a helping agency allows you to be a part of those villages, whether you’re making someone more prepared or standing with them on one of their worst days.”

One of Clair’s favorite memories of working with the Red Cross is of coming across an unreported wildfire with a new volunteer she was onboarding: “She and I were driving through a rural county to inventory a trailer when we saw a large cloud of smoke. As we drove by the house closest to the smoke, we couldn’t see anyone was watching the fire, so we turned around and checked. It turns out we had stumbled across an unreported wildfire in the area. Because we stopped, we were able to get the fire department on scene in time to save several homes in the area and keep the families safe.”

Being able to complete her Masters of Social Work from the University of Illinois while still accepting numerous deployments to support disasters in Kentucky is one of Clair’s proudest achievements. “I spent almost 12 weeks supporting two different floods and the 2021 tornados. Being able to accomplish such a big personal goal while still being there for my community is something I’ll aways be proud of.”

Clair and team during her
deployment to Maui

A goal Clair has for this year is crossing off another new state on her list: “I’m on a mission to visit all 50 states, and I have 12 to go. My last new state was Hawaii when responding to the Maui wildfires. I’d like my next state to be one I go to for fun, not work.”

One fun fact about Clair is that she was once an award-winning jazz tenor saxophone player and painter. She has a cat named Blair who likes to introduce herself to people on Teams calls, and is a voracious reader, yoga enthusiast, and leisure hiker. Her favorite place to hike is Kentucky Lake, with the Grand Tetons being a close second.

We are excited to share that Clair will soon begin a new role as part of our National Red Cross team! Congratulations, Clair, and our best wishes for this newest chapter in your story!