#MyStoryMonday: Linda Porter

Linda and Rickey Porter

Linda Porter is a familiar face in the Owensboro area. Linda joined the American Red Cross Kentucky Region in 2015 as the Western Kentucky Chapter’s Disaster Program Specialist; a year later she became the Disaster Program Manager after the person who’d previously held the position transferred.

As the Western Kentucky Disaster Program Manager, Linda says there is “no normal day” when it comes to her job. 

“I get to work with all kinds of different folks in different agencies and organizations,” said Linda. “There's always something different when it comes to working with our volunteers or our government or community partners.” 

As part of her job, Linda often attends community meetings, coordinates disaster volunteers and deploys to disasters in the Kentucky and across the country. She deployed in 2021 when tornados impacted Western and South Central Kentucky, and recently spend time deployed to Hawaii to assist with the wildfire response efforts. 

Before joining the Red Cross, Linda worked for the Office of Inspector General in Louisville, KY. She was drawn to the Red Cross because she wanted a job that made an impact in her community the way her previous job couldn’t fulfill: “I was looking for something where I could work with the community. I was looking for something to fulfill a need.”

Working to prepare communities and ensuring they are taken care of after a disaster is the most rewarding part of the job for Linda, and so is “working with such a diverse group of peers, whether it's locally with great volunteers who believe in the mission, or coming together with people from all across the nation to come and serve the mission to help those who are in need.”

One of her favorite memories of working with the Red Cross is of taking a Paducah-area volunteer, who also worked for the fire department, on his first response as part of our disaster action team (DAT). 

“I took him on that response to assist a young lady and her family, and it teared him up,” said Linda.
“He’d never experienced this side because he was always on the side of the fire response. To be able to help the families was emotional for him because he saw what it meant to be able to give her guidance and support in her time of need.”

Linda and Cindy Thompson

Linda is most proud of her team of volunteers and the support they provide to Western Kentucky.

"My volunteer partner, Cindy Thompson, has been with the Red Cross for over 25 years,” said Linda. She leans on her seasoned volunteers for their knowledge and experience but doesn’t discount the work done by newer volunteers. “I've got a great group of volunteers who don't have as much time with the Red Cross but have really supported me along my way because of the mission.”

In her free time, Linda enjoys spending time with her family, hiking and fishing, and she recently had the opportunity to go hiking during her deployment to Hawaii.

Linda and family