Armstrong, Red Cross a Comfort in Time of Need

Tim Armstrong is a walking example that you get more out of community service than you give.

Armstrong is the principal at Albany Elementary School, a rural school in Clinton County, KY. He’s also a Lake Cumberland Red Cross Community Board member and part of the Bluegrass Area’s Disaster Action Team. When the school district received, through a grant, a quantity of Automatic Emergency Defibrillators (AEDs), Armstrong trained not only his teachers, but also county staff, coaches and community members in first aid, CPR, and use of AEDs.

It was after a fire destroyed a home in Cumberland County, Armstrong found himself comforting the family who’d just lost their home. The family included one of his students, a special needs child. Armstrong gave the child a Mickey Mouse stuffed toy as a comfort.

“Upon returning to school this child was more open and, unlike in the past, spoke to me,” said Armstrong. "The fact that he opened up and embraced me when he came back to school triggered a deep feeling in me."

“In that emotional time, as we tried to help the affected family, that stuffed character was his comfort.”

“That moment drove home to me how the work we do is a real blessing, not only to those we help, but to us volunteers,” Armstrong said. “I went away from that event knowing how the Red Cross helps me to be a better principal, and a better person,” he said.

Profile: Lynn Romans

Lynn Romans, a resident of Radcliff, Kentucky, first joined the Red Cross in 1990 when her youngest child went to school. She began work in the ACCEPT credit counseling service, and in the 26 years since she has been everything from an Administrative Coordinator in Field Services to a Database Administrator in Financial Development. Now, Lynn is a Program Specialist for the organization’s Service to Armed Forces (SAF) where she helps coordinate and promote the division’s activities.

The American Red Cross has been providing services to U.S. Armed Forces in Kentucky and Indiana since 1917. As a military mom, the impact SAF makes is especially important to Lynn.

While the SAF Hero Care Call Center at the Louisville Area Chapter gets the most notoriety, Lynn and the SAF division are constantly giving back to the military community. Much of Lynn’s job is networking with veterans agencies and promoting the activities of the SAF. They work with other organizations, nonprofits, Fort Knox and the Pet Therapy teams at the Clark County Red Cross office in Southern Indiana to help provide services to veterans, active duty military personnel and their families. Every Memorial Day they set up a booth to welcome and support riders participating in the annual Run for the Wall, a cross country motorcycle ride to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C. hosted to promote healing among veterans and to honor Prisoners of War and those Missing in Action or Killed in Action.

One of the activities that Lynn enjoys the most is reaching out to military personnel who are preparing to ship out to basic training through programs at Military Entrance Processing Stations (MEPS).

At MEPS, Red Cross staff gives briefings to new recruits and their families so they can “Get to Know Us Before You Need Us” and learn about the services the Red Cross provides. These include counseling and social services to military families, and the emergency communication services that keep military personnel in touch with their loved ones in the event of emergencies, including the death of an immediate family member or the birth of a child. The Red Cross is also present during yellow ribbon programs and homecomings to let military families know what services are available to them.

“If you’ve been here long enough, everyone has done a little bit of everything,” said Lynn. “I never would have guessed I would be here.”

“Most people do not know the relationship between the Red Cross and the Armed Forces,” said Lynn. Making that relationship known is important to her, because it’s the people that matter to her most; the military personnel and families she helps serve, and the passionate and caring people she works with who come together to get the job done. Lynn encourages others to look into the services provided by SAF, and asks that people remember and support our troops.

Click here to learn more about the Red Cross Service to Armed Forces, and to volunteer with SAF, go to www.redcross.org/volunteer.

Volunteer Profile: Kathy Hoff

From her time as a Red Cross Donut Dolly in Vietnam, to disaster responses across the United States, to her current service in Lexington, Kentucky, Kathy Hoff has devoted years of time and talent to helping the Red Cross in a variety of capacities.

Kathy’s first volunteer experience with the organization was in 1969. As an adventuresome recent college graduate, she and her roommate saw a newspaper ad to go to Vietnam as “Donut Dollies”, and they signed up. She spent the next year there, offering moral support for the troops. The Dollies, a name inherited from their predecessors in World War II and Korea, would run recreation centers, put on self-designed programs to entertain the troops, and visit hospitals, which was difficult and heart wrenching for Kathy.

“As long as we could take the guys’ minds off the war, that was our main aspect of having them do these games. A lot of times I would just sit and talk. I did not like going to the hospital, because I had to smile and be cheerful, and seeing these guys that were my age and younger, and what they’ve been through [. . .] that was really challenging,” she said.

Kathy Swanson Hoff serving as a Donut Dolly in Vietnam

Following her service in Vietnam, Kathy occasionally volunteered for the Red Cross, but after Hurricane Katrina, she became more involved again. She was deployed twice following Katrina, spending three weeks in Mississippi operating an Emergency Response Vehicle, and then spending two weeks in New Orleans canteening and feeding the thousands of displaced residents. Since then, she has responded to numerous disasters across the country, including relief operations in California, Iowa and Texas, and on the East Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. She used to teach disaster classes, she presents the Pillowcase Project (a free disaster preparedness program) to elementary school students, and she’s continued her work with the military, serving as a Service to Armed Forces Specialist and donating her time at the local VA hospital.

A retired teacher originally from the Seattle area, Kathy and her husband moved to Lexington five years ago to be closer to their daughters and grandchildren. Volunteering is a way of life for Kathy, and she has discovered plenty of volunteer opportunities in the Bluegrass. She’s an officer in the Citizens Police Academy, works with the Lexington Opera House, coaches a Special Olympics softball team, ushers for UK Athletics events, and helps out at her grandchildren’s elementary school. Connecting to others, especially those less fortunate, is a gratifying experience for her.

“It’s just giving of yourself, just thinking of other people, and not worrying about yourself and all that’s going on. It’s just such a good feeling to help. There’s a lady at the VA where I volunteer. She’s 98 years old, was a nurse in World War II, and she just beams when I walk in” she said.  

She feels connected to other volunteers with their shared interest in helping others, and she’s stayed in touch with a number of fellow Red Crossers from her deployments around the country. Kathy is also relaying the importance of volunteering to younger generations by involving her grandchildren in numerous activities.

“It’s a great feeling to give of yourself. When you get a hug [. . .], that’s the biggest pay you could ever have.”

Click here to learn more about the Donut Dollies, and if you would like to join the Red Cross as a volunteer, please visit www.redcross.org/volunteer .

Volunteer Profile: Curtis Armstrong

Since the Red Cross supplies about 40 percent of the nation’s blood supply, volunteers like Curtis Armstrong are crucial to the organization. Curtis has been a Blood Services volunteer for three years and continues to donate his time to the cause. His main inspiration for giving back was seeing his wife volunteer with the Red Cross.  While he helps in whatever capacity he can, his main roles are blood donor recruitment, serving blood donors meals and thanking donors for their generosity. He values volunteering with the Red Cross because it is a great way for him to meet people and experience the many different ways to positively impact others.

Working in Blood Services has given Curtis the chance to work around a lot of different people, all with unique stories. However; one experience sticks out to him the most. “I was at a Blood Drive when a donor came to me and thanked me for my effort in recruiting Donors, I thanked him for giving and he cried on my shoulder and said, no, thank you for helping save my family, because of what you’re doing my family is still with me today and that's why I give,” he said.

To Curtis, there is no reward greater than seeing how his effort has helped the community at large. He believes others should join the effort and volunteer with the Red Cross. “Volunteering with the Red Cross is a great way especially for those not able to work, to be able to give their time and enjoy life,” he said.

If you would like to join the Red Cross as a volunteer, please visit www.redcross.org/volunteer.

Louisville Area Chapter Recognizes Service of WWI Red Cross Nurse

Nursing and Service to the Armed Forces are both important parts of the storied past of the American Red Cross. With the outbreak of World War I, these services worked together to provide much needed care for the United States military. The Nursing Service was established in 1909, and this branch of the Red Cross increased its activity as conflict spread across Europe in June 1914. When the U.S. became involved in the Great War in 1917 and an influenza pandemic rattled the globe in 1918, the demand for nurses grew even greater, both domestically and internationally. The Red Cross enrolled 23,822 nurses during the war, and 19,931 of these nurses were sent overseas. On Tuesday, April 26, 2016, the Louisville Area Chapter honored World War I Red Cross nurse Margaret Dugan Winter (1892-1962). The Legacy Award was presented to her daughter, Margaret Winter White of Louisville.

Mrs. Margaret Winter White accepting a Legacy Award honoring her mother, Mrs. Margaret Dugan Winter, from Louisville Area Chapter Board Chair Bill Lamb

Born Margaret May Dugan, and known as Maggie May, the Jeffersonville, Indiana native served as a Red Cross nurse on the homefront and abroad. She trained at Louisville City Hospital and became a Registered Nurse in 1917. On November 19 of that year, she was sworn in as Red Cross Nurse #14957, and she was quickly called to active duty. Her first assignment took her to the U.S. Army hospital at Ft. Oglethorpe, Georgia in 1918. The influenza pandemic was in full force, and she cared for many patients who fell ill with the virus. Later that year, she was assigned to Base Hospital Unit #56 and sent overseas, where she spent seven months in Allerey, France. The war ended in November 1918, and she was discharged from active duty on June 5, 1919.

 

Following her service with the Red Cross, Mrs. Winter continued her career as a nurse, and also her work with military veterans. Soon after the war, she spent time working for the Veterans Bureau, assisting with the claims of disabled soldiers in Eastern Kentucky. In the 1930s and 40s, she served as chairwoman of the American Legion Auxiliary Christmas shop where hospitalized veterans could pick out gifts for their families.

A number of Mrs. Winter’s family members were present to witness her being honored. Ernest Edward Morris, grandson of Mrs. Winter, has other family connections to the early years of the American Red Cross as well. His great-grandfather Ernest P. Bicknell spent 27 years with the organization, including time overseas during World War I as the Deputy Commissioner to France, Commissioner to Belgium, and Special Commissioner to the Balkan States, all while serving as a member of several international relief organizations. In addition to Mrs. White and Mr. Morris, other family members present were A. Franklin White (husband of Mrs. White), Glenda Terrell Morris (wife of Mr. Morris), Elizabeth Winter (granddaughter of Mrs. Winter,  and Stuart A. White (son of Mrs. White and grandson of Mrs. Winter).

The remarkable expansion of the American Red Cross during World War I can be attributed to the crucial care and comfort provided to military members and civilians around the world. The Red Cross would not be the humanitarian organization it is today without volunteers like Margaret Dugan Winter. We are grateful for her contributions, and we are proud to honor her service.

Click here to learn more about the Red Cross and its efforts during World War I.

Biographical information provided by the family of Margaret Dugan Winter.

Haack, Alison. “Ernest P. Bicknell – Red Cross Humanitarian”, Indiana University Archives, last modified April 8, 2014, accessed April 28, 2016, https://blogs.libraries.indiana.edu/iubarchives/2014/04/08/c520/.