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Community DC Dale Kunce American Red Cross · Community D.C.

0:00
Speaker 1: Good morning, and welcome to another edition of Community DC.
0:03
Speaker 1: I'm your host Dennis Glasgow. This morning, we welcome back
0:05
Speaker 1: to the program, Dale Coons. He is the CEO for
0:08
Speaker 1: the American Red Cross of the National Capital and Greater
0:11
Speaker 1: Chesapeake Region. American Red Cross is a humanitarian organization that
0:15
Speaker 1: provides emergency assistant, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education, operating
0:20
Speaker 1: to prevent and alleviate human suffering through five core service areas,
0:24
Speaker 1: including disaster relief, blood collection, military support, health and safety training,
0:29
Speaker 1: and international services, all which we'll talk about over the
0:32
Speaker 1: next thirty minutes. Here's my conversation with Dale. I hope
0:35
Speaker 1: you enjoy it as much as I did.
0:36
Speaker 2: Good morning, Dale, Good morning Dennis. Hey, it's great to.
0:38
Speaker 1: Have you back on the program. It has been a spell,
0:41
Speaker 1: so I'm really glad to have you on because it's
0:43
Speaker 1: fortuitous talking to you because we're getting into warmer weather
0:46
Speaker 1: and I think we're going to get a great education
0:48
Speaker 1: for our listeners that have heard about American Red Cross
0:51
Speaker 1: about what you do, and you have so many buckets
0:54
Speaker 1: and so many different things that you do out there.
0:56
Speaker 1: I think it's going to kind of surprise people in
0:57
Speaker 1: a very positive way, But if you could, I I know,
1:00
Speaker 1: I just briefly want to talk about the history because
1:02
Speaker 1: if anybody has heard the name Clara Barton, and we
1:06
Speaker 1: have in the DMV, that's somebody that is associated with
1:09
Speaker 1: the Red Cross. And this goes back to the eighteen hundreds, folks.
1:12
Speaker 1: And I'm not going to spend a whole podcast on this, Dale,
1:14
Speaker 1: but I know you know a little bit about the history,
1:16
Speaker 1: but can you go back from us and tell us
1:18
Speaker 1: about the origin because it truly is extraordinary to where
1:21
Speaker 1: it was where it is now.
1:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks to Claire Barton is one of the great Americans.
1:28
Speaker 2: She really got her start helping soldiers on the battlefield
1:33
Speaker 2: during the Civil War, and then through that work really
1:38
Speaker 2: felt passionate about her work and humanity and her work
1:42
Speaker 2: and trying to help everybody. And she did kind of
1:45
Speaker 2: different phases of her life that are each themselves this
1:48
Speaker 2: deserving of a museum, as there are actually several museums
1:52
Speaker 2: in and around the DC area dedicated to Claire Barton's
1:55
Speaker 2: various works. She reunited soldiers after the Civil War with
1:59
Speaker 2: their families and let them know where they're when it
2:02
Speaker 2: happened to their to their loved ones. She founded the
2:05
Speaker 2: Red Cross and and created that mission. She started first
2:10
Speaker 2: aid here in the United States and teaching community members
2:14
Speaker 2: how to do first DIDs so that it wasn't just
2:16
Speaker 2: to doctors and nurses doing that. And then she was
2:19
Speaker 2: a suffragist and an anti slavery person who was a
2:23
Speaker 2: pin pow with with Frederick Douglass. And yes, she was
2:27
Speaker 2: an amazing, amazing person. And the reason why I know
2:30
Speaker 2: so much about her is because she did found the
2:33
Speaker 2: American Red Cross, and she did that. She did that
2:37
Speaker 2: originally here in d C. And worked to establish a
2:42
Speaker 2: national Red Cross to support soldiers. That was kind of
2:46
Speaker 2: her one of her big things. But then also supporting
2:48
Speaker 2: her new idea was to support the general public after
2:52
Speaker 2: a disaster. And that's really where the modern Red Cross. Yes,
2:57
Speaker 2: we do so a lot of support for soldiers, and
3:00
Speaker 2: my teams are out It joined Beys Andrews and Walter
3:03
Speaker 2: Reed and at Augusta for Belvoir here in the region
3:07
Speaker 2: providing aid and comfort to those soldiers who are in
3:09
Speaker 2: those hospitals today. Built on built on her vision, but
3:15
Speaker 2: a lot of what we do and a lot of
3:17
Speaker 2: what the public sees is the disaster response. We we
3:20
Speaker 2: have a home fire, or there's a tornado or a flood.
3:25
Speaker 2: Oftentimes that person behind the governor speaking is wearing a
3:28
Speaker 2: Red Cross vest. Oftentimes that person in the news shot
3:31
Speaker 2: that you see out on the street is a Red
3:34
Speaker 2: Cross volunteer helping and making a difference in their community
3:37
Speaker 2: in alignment with Clara's vision from all the way back
3:40
Speaker 2: from the eighteen eighties.
3:41
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's pretty extraordinary. Now there's a lot of buckets
3:44
Speaker 1: I want to hit today. In our thirty minutes, you
3:45
Speaker 1: talked about disaster relief and community disaster education. We're also
3:49
Speaker 1: going to talk about the heat folks. It's going to
3:51
Speaker 1: be timely because the Red Cross really gets involved in
3:54
Speaker 1: and when it gets warm up there and things that
3:55
Speaker 1: you should look out for and what can happen. Also,
3:57
Speaker 1: health and safety services, service to the arm worts. As
4:00
Speaker 1: you mentioned, community services, blood services. I think that's always
4:04
Speaker 1: synonymous with American Red Crossover Bowl. We'll hit on and
4:06
Speaker 1: volunteerism too. But do me a favor. Could you talk
4:09
Speaker 1: about the mission because I went on the website just
4:12
Speaker 1: to prep myself again, I know the mission is very
4:15
Speaker 1: important and tell people exactly what it is.
4:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, So if you want a job at the Red Cross.
4:21
Speaker 2: I encourage you to remember the mission, would you when
4:23
Speaker 2: you come for your interview, because as I've been with
4:26
Speaker 2: the Recross for over fourteen years now, and it is
4:31
Speaker 2: it is near and dear to my heart, and it's
4:33
Speaker 2: to prevent an alleviate human suffering through the power of
4:36
Speaker 2: volunteers and the generosity of donors. Right and therein lies
4:40
Speaker 2: our entire work. We're supposed to help people, and we're
4:42
Speaker 2: supposed to do it through volunteers, and we're supposed to
4:45
Speaker 2: do it through the amazing support of donors in our
4:49
Speaker 2: communities each and every day. It's a grand vision, yes,
4:53
Speaker 2: but it's so simple that it grounds us, and it
4:55
Speaker 2: grounds me in the decisions that I make each and
4:59
Speaker 2: every day our region. And what that allows us to
5:02
Speaker 2: do is to really focus in on Yes, we have
5:04
Speaker 2: a lot of different programs, and yes, we have programs
5:08
Speaker 2: that do work with the military and work with blood
5:11
Speaker 2: drives trying to make sure we have the blood available
5:14
Speaker 2: in all the hospitals, and we have very big programs,
5:17
Speaker 2: but really, at the end of the day, it's about
5:20
Speaker 2: that person across the street from you, or on that
5:23
Speaker 2: street corner with you. We're in that hospital. It's about
5:26
Speaker 2: that one person that we're trying to prevent or alleviate
5:29
Speaker 2: that one person suffering. And that's where I'm proud to
5:33
Speaker 2: work at the Red Cross because we have kind of
5:36
Speaker 2: a national ability to do things, but we're really about
5:40
Speaker 2: the local community. We're really about the person that's right
5:43
Speaker 2: there in front of you each and every day.
5:46
Speaker 1: All Right, Well, what I want to do, because it's
5:47
Speaker 1: a great segue because you talked about it, I want
5:50
Speaker 1: to talk about funding and also volunteering, two big, gigantic things,
5:54
Speaker 1: and folks I want to do remind you beside going
5:57
Speaker 1: to the website and dale, we'll give that a couple
5:58
Speaker 1: of times and we'll also give it that end of
6:00
Speaker 1: the interview for we of them found it. But it's
6:03
Speaker 1: a really big deal. If you're a small, medium or
6:05
Speaker 1: large business. If you want a partnership or of your family,
6:08
Speaker 1: single person, it doesn't matter where you are. There are
6:10
Speaker 1: many ways to do that. So why don't we first
6:12
Speaker 1: talk about funding? How can people help out?
6:14
Speaker 2: Our work is through the power of donors, and that's
6:19
Speaker 2: through blood donors. Blood donors, and that's through financial donors
6:23
Speaker 2: and the Red Cross. We often, as people think we
6:27
Speaker 2: get a lot of government support, and that's not true. Actually,
6:29
Speaker 2: most of our work, the vast majority, right is funded
6:34
Speaker 2: through the how we phrase it, is the generosity of
6:37
Speaker 2: the American public. That is the person down the street,
6:41
Speaker 2: that is you, that is your corporation, that is the
6:44
Speaker 2: local community foundation, all supporting the Red Cross to do
6:48
Speaker 2: the work that we do here in this community. Just
6:51
Speaker 2: to just to give you a couple of numbers of
6:53
Speaker 2: what that looks like, each year we give out indirect
6:56
Speaker 2: financial assistance in this region over million dollars indirect financial
7:02
Speaker 2: assistance to families who have lost their homes in home
7:05
Speaker 2: fires or other disasters, no questions asked. Will meet you
7:09
Speaker 2: on the street quarter where the fire department gives us
7:12
Speaker 2: a call, and that night you're going to have money
7:15
Speaker 2: in your bank account to get a hotel room, if
7:18
Speaker 2: you need to replace some shoes, will help you replace
7:22
Speaker 2: your medication, right, all those things, and that's made possible
7:25
Speaker 2: because of the generosity of people who say, Hey, I
7:28
Speaker 2: want to make a difference, I want to make a donation,
7:31
Speaker 2: and they do that at Redcross dot org.
7:34
Speaker 1: All right, I want to talk about volunteerism as also
7:37
Speaker 1: that I know there's many different ways that you can
7:39
Speaker 1: be a volunteer. Can you touch in that a little
7:41
Speaker 1: bit for Stale.
7:42
Speaker 2: Normally, when you see a Red Cross route in the street,
7:45
Speaker 2: or you see somebody out doing Red Cross work, they're
7:48
Speaker 2: most likely a volunteer. Ninety plus percent of all of
7:52
Speaker 2: the work that we do is done by volunteers. Here
7:55
Speaker 2: this region, we have about ten thousand volunteers. We have
7:59
Speaker 2: ten thous people in your community have said, Hey, I
8:01
Speaker 2: want to make a difference, and I want to make
8:03
Speaker 2: a difference through the Red Cross. We are the largest
8:06
Speaker 2: humanitarian organization powered by volunteers, both in the country and
8:11
Speaker 2: in the world, and that scope is huge, but there's
8:16
Speaker 2: always more, and I think people in this region in
8:19
Speaker 2: particular know that there's always more help that is needed,
8:23
Speaker 2: especially in different times, and so you can always come
8:27
Speaker 2: and volunteer if it's for an hour a week and
8:29
Speaker 2: you want to help out at a help out an event,
8:34
Speaker 2: or you want to staff a blood drive and welcome
8:36
Speaker 2: people as they come in and they make their donor
8:39
Speaker 2: you want to drive blood to hospitals and literally get
8:42
Speaker 2: hugs from doctors who say, thank goodness, the blood is here.
8:46
Speaker 2: Or you want to be that person on the street
8:48
Speaker 2: corner helping somebody at two am in the middle of
8:52
Speaker 2: the night when they've lost their home, or if you
8:55
Speaker 2: are feeling super excited and you want to join an
8:59
Speaker 2: amazing team of volume teers who deploy across the country
9:01
Speaker 2: and very honestly around the world, as we have teams
9:04
Speaker 2: in Saipan right now from typhoon Simbaku, from the National
9:09
Speaker 2: Capital Area, you can come and do that, and you
9:13
Speaker 2: can do that at Redcross dot org slash volunteer.
9:15
Speaker 1: Well, I'm glad you brought that up because you are
9:17
Speaker 1: representing as CEO of the American Red Cross of the
9:20
Speaker 1: National Capitol and Greater Chesapeake region. But your net spreads
9:24
Speaker 1: pretty wide, doesn't it. I mean, if they need you
9:26
Speaker 1: and your team, you're going right.
9:28
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely. Just the past year, I've been deployed to
9:31
Speaker 2: New Mexico, I've been deployed to Alaska for a typhoon.
9:36
Speaker 2: And our team right now just people from the DMV area.
9:41
Speaker 2: We have twenty one people on the island of Saipan
9:44
Speaker 2: right now helping the helping the people that we estimate
9:50
Speaker 2: three to four thousand homes have been lost because of
9:53
Speaker 2: the typhoon that hit there. And so you can go
9:56
Speaker 2: do these amazing things and amazing places across the country,
10:01
Speaker 2: or wildfires out west, or tornadoes in the Midwest, or
10:04
Speaker 2: floods right or winter storms, or you can make a
10:08
Speaker 2: difference right down the street through the Red Cross.
10:11
Speaker 1: I love that if you could do me a favor
10:13
Speaker 1: and indulge me Dale just for educational purposes. When it
10:16
Speaker 1: comes to the American Red Cross, either something's happening in
10:18
Speaker 1: our region or somewhere as you mentioned, domestically or internationally,
10:22
Speaker 1: how do you get notified to get involved and when
10:24
Speaker 1: you know, okay, we've been invited into this or we
10:27
Speaker 1: insert ourselves as this. How does that process work, because
10:30
Speaker 1: I imagine it might be a little tricky at times.
10:32
Speaker 2: Well, it's pretty awesome. Actually. We have a really good, strong,
10:35
Speaker 2: kind of mutual aid system where you know, if I
10:39
Speaker 2: need help from I can say, hey, I need help,
10:41
Speaker 2: and we have kind of an organized system where help
10:44
Speaker 2: can come and support house here in the National Capital region.
10:49
Speaker 2: But as a volunteer, how that looks is that you're
10:51
Speaker 2: going to get a call from a very nice volunteer saying, hey,
10:55
Speaker 2: we need you. You've got the special skills that we
10:58
Speaker 2: need to go serve in an EOC or go provide
11:02
Speaker 2: logistics support or go do food feeding for folks. Can
11:06
Speaker 2: you deploy for two weeks? And so it's all it's
11:11
Speaker 2: driven by volunteers. It's powered up by some really amazing
11:14
Speaker 2: technology that we have in the background to kind of
11:16
Speaker 2: manage these you know, at the scale tens of thousands
11:19
Speaker 2: and nationally hundreds of thousands of people. But it really
11:22
Speaker 2: it times down to Dennis, I'm gonna give you a
11:25
Speaker 2: call and see if you're free for the next two weeks.
11:27
Speaker 2: Love that on a plane together.
11:28
Speaker 1: I love that. I love that. I wanted to circle
11:30
Speaker 1: back deal just for a second because once again, and
11:33
Speaker 1: I said this, I think that a lot of people
11:35
Speaker 1: want they hear about blood services and donation that's synonymous
11:38
Speaker 1: with American Red Cross. I imagine there are lots of
11:41
Speaker 1: ebbs and flows when it comes to the blood bank
11:44
Speaker 1: and the mobile units and going to hospitals. That there
11:47
Speaker 1: are good months, there are bad years. It's all cyclical.
11:51
Speaker 1: I get all that, But just in general terms, how
11:53
Speaker 1: we doing with blood donations? Are we doing well out there?
11:56
Speaker 1: And how can we do better out there?
11:58
Speaker 2: Yeah? So right now we're doing okay. There is a
12:01
Speaker 2: constant need for blood and one of the statistics that
12:04
Speaker 2: has stayed with me in the last couple of years
12:06
Speaker 2: is that ninety five percent of people need blood at
12:10
Speaker 2: some point in their lifetime. It just the most happens
12:13
Speaker 2: to be in the last five years of their life,
12:16
Speaker 2: so that when people are really needing that blood, right,
12:19
Speaker 2: they've kind of missed their chance, so to speak, to
12:22
Speaker 2: contribute to other people. And so we do need constantly
12:28
Speaker 2: people to give blood. In fact, actually every two seconds
12:31
Speaker 2: somewhere in the United States somebody needs blood. That's quite quickly, right,
12:37
Speaker 2: and here in this region we have to collect hundreds
12:39
Speaker 2: and hundreds of units just to supply the local hospitals
12:43
Speaker 2: right that are in this region. So if you can
12:46
Speaker 2: name your hospital, Red Cross is most likely giving them,
12:50
Speaker 2: giving them blood so that they can have the blood
12:53
Speaker 2: for cancer patients, they have the blood for traumas, they
12:56
Speaker 2: can have the blood for expecting mothers as they go
12:59
Speaker 2: through all the different things and surgeries and all the
13:02
Speaker 2: different things that happen where you need blood. And so
13:06
Speaker 2: we're in an okay spot right now. But as we
13:08
Speaker 2: enter into this little bit warmer weather, that's when school
13:12
Speaker 2: gets out, that's when people start going on vacation, that's
13:15
Speaker 2: when that's when schedules start getting disrupted a little bit.
13:19
Speaker 2: And so instead of hey, on this Tuesday, I go
13:22
Speaker 2: give blood on that Tuesday, I'm off. I'm off in
13:25
Speaker 2: the care be it, or I've off my kids summer
13:29
Speaker 2: camp or something. And so that's when those interruptions make
13:33
Speaker 2: a little bit and our blood supply goes down. So
13:35
Speaker 2: if you can make an appointment now you can do
13:38
Speaker 2: that and go, you can do that at Redcross dot org.
13:40
Speaker 2: It will be amazing. You're going to make a difference.
13:42
Speaker 2: You're going to save up to three lives when you
13:44
Speaker 2: go and do that.
13:45
Speaker 1: Well, great, thanks for sharing all that. And I think
13:46
Speaker 1: another good segue because you talked about the weather, and
13:49
Speaker 1: I think that you know, we take it for granted
13:51
Speaker 1: that you know, after the snow crete that we went
13:54
Speaker 1: through in the DMV and just learning that term is
13:56
Speaker 1: just annoying enough. But it was a long cold winter.
13:59
Speaker 1: But now that it starting to warm up, you know,
14:01
Speaker 1: disasters and hurricane season are here, and also the heat
14:06
Speaker 1: is a really big issue, and I know that's something
14:08
Speaker 1: you want to address.
14:09
Speaker 2: Just personally for myself, I moved into a new house
14:12
Speaker 2: this year and just learning the ac works and doesn't
14:15
Speaker 2: work as we've experienced this really weird and odd weather
14:19
Speaker 2: this this past spring, right, so we went from the
14:22
Speaker 2: snow creed to we've had several days where we've had
14:25
Speaker 2: record highs here in the spring. And it was ninety
14:28
Speaker 2: degrees in April, and then it was then it was
14:32
Speaker 2: forty five degrees and you know it's so the weather's
14:35
Speaker 2: changing a bit in this summer. We anticipate and like
14:39
Speaker 2: all summers, as we look forward and that extreme heat
14:43
Speaker 2: is becoming a significant killer and a significant threat. It's
14:49
Speaker 2: very quiet. It's very silent. It doesn't get the same
14:51
Speaker 2: news that a hurricane wood or a tornado would if
14:54
Speaker 2: they were to come through DC. But we're looking at
14:58
Speaker 2: at at weather predictions that give us a number of
15:02
Speaker 2: extreme heat days where you do need to stay cool.
15:06
Speaker 2: You do need to have a plan. If you have
15:09
Speaker 2: a c and you have all the things you need,
15:10
Speaker 2: do your loved ones have a plan? Do your neighbors
15:13
Speaker 2: have a plan? Are you are the best way to
15:17
Speaker 2: take care of yourself and to take care of the
15:19
Speaker 2: people around you is to go physically, look at them,
15:22
Speaker 2: knock on their door, check in on Dennis and say, Dennis,
15:25
Speaker 2: how you doing? Is your a c still working.
15:28
Speaker 1: I'm getting at that age that my wife does that
15:30
Speaker 1: pretty regularly with me. Dale, So thank you for the
15:32
Speaker 1: reminder for.
15:34
Speaker 2: Go to checks out it. But that's but those are
15:38
Speaker 2: the things you got to do. You've got to go
15:40
Speaker 2: see your neighbors and check in on them, especially your
15:44
Speaker 2: elderly neighbors, especially the neighbors with young children. And again
15:51
Speaker 2: in the d m V, we're seeing this extreme heat
15:54
Speaker 2: is only going to increase in the years to come.
15:56
Speaker 2: It's going to become an even bigger deal. Has been
16:01
Speaker 2: an issue already this spring, it will be a significant
16:04
Speaker 2: issue this summer as we look at the global weather patterns.
16:08
Speaker 1: Well, one of the things that you also offer that
16:10
Speaker 1: I think is extraordinary are your class programs. And there
16:13
Speaker 1: are a lot. Now I know we can't go over
16:14
Speaker 1: every because that'd be its own podcast. It's truly amazing, folks,
16:17
Speaker 1: how many programs Dale and this team offer up. But
16:20
Speaker 1: you know you have adult and Children, First Date and
16:23
Speaker 1: CPR and goes on and on. But can you talk
16:25
Speaker 1: about maybe some of your more popular programs that you
16:28
Speaker 1: get very excited about that also a lot of people
16:30
Speaker 1: take and they should take as well.
16:32
Speaker 2: I'm going to highlight two. Yeah, one is CPR. Absolutely
16:36
Speaker 2: everybody should go and get CPR trained. You never know
16:40
Speaker 2: when you're going to need it. As somebody who gets
16:42
Speaker 2: to encounter those amazing individuals who have saved people, I
16:47
Speaker 2: love hearing their story about how they first got CPR
16:50
Speaker 2: trained and why they got first got CPR trained. Oftentimes
16:53
Speaker 2: it was not with the tent purpose of actually saving
16:56
Speaker 2: a life. Oftentimes it was a requirement for a job,
17:00
Speaker 2: right or something like that. But I would encourage you,
17:04
Speaker 2: as a normal citizen, have that power, have that superpower
17:08
Speaker 2: you can go and save somebody's life with CPR. And
17:11
Speaker 2: the other one I would recommend, especially this time of year,
17:15
Speaker 2: especially if you have teens in your Home's the babysitting
17:19
Speaker 2: class and they can go and they can be got
17:22
Speaker 2: CPR certified and babysitting certified.
17:25
Speaker 1: It's a big deal.
17:26
Speaker 2: It's a big deal. I mean, like I talked to
17:28
Speaker 2: a lot of people who who got send their kids
17:32
Speaker 2: to babysitting class where they themselves took the Red Cross
17:34
Speaker 2: babysitting class, you know, thirty forty fifty years ago. It's
17:39
Speaker 2: in a very important piece to our community. It allows
17:42
Speaker 2: it to allows young people to have a livelihood, and
17:45
Speaker 2: it allows parents to feel more secure and that their
17:49
Speaker 2: kids are being watched after very safely.
17:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, I can sign off on them. My daughter did
17:52
Speaker 1: it here locally when she was still in high school,
17:55
Speaker 1: and she's glad she did and being certified. You're right,
17:58
Speaker 1: parents get a peace of mind. And also she felt
18:00
Speaker 1: a sense of accomplishment that doing that she didn't think
18:03
Speaker 1: she was going to do. And thank god she hasn't
18:06
Speaker 1: had to use it. But it's good to have that
18:08
Speaker 1: skill because you don't know when something is going to
18:10
Speaker 1: pop up. So I'm glad you shared that. I did
18:13
Speaker 1: want to ask you about maybe a story or two.
18:16
Speaker 1: And in your fourteen plus here there, I know that
18:18
Speaker 1: you've seen some horrifying things, but you've also seen some
18:21
Speaker 1: extraordinary things. And I think that's the power of your
18:24
Speaker 1: volunteer program and also your team and the good people
18:27
Speaker 1: that you work with across this nation and around the world.
18:29
Speaker 1: With that said, you know, this is why we get
18:32
Speaker 1: up every morning. Kind of story. Is there something that
18:35
Speaker 1: maybe since I last talked to you, that has happened
18:38
Speaker 1: that has really touched your heart? Because I know you
18:40
Speaker 1: see a lot the good and bad, but something that
18:42
Speaker 1: really said you know what, it was a good day
18:44
Speaker 1: for us. We really knocked it out of the park.
18:46
Speaker 1: Do you have something to share with us?
18:47
Speaker 2: A recent story that I have is from a few
18:50
Speaker 2: weeks ago, actually, and it's about a gentleman named Gary.
18:56
Speaker 2: And Gary's volunteers for US and he's been a volunteer
18:58
Speaker 2: for a long long time with US, and he's a
19:03
Speaker 2: volunteer at Joint Bass Andrews and they our team there
19:07
Speaker 2: welcomes back wounded soldiers to the United States. Oftentimes were
19:12
Speaker 2: the first people that they see when they land here,
19:15
Speaker 2: and our team actually they say welcome home when they
19:18
Speaker 2: see these soldiers and sailors. And Gary's been a volunteer
19:23
Speaker 2: for twenty years now, and he used to be a
19:29
Speaker 2: sergeant major here at the DC National Guard. And I
19:33
Speaker 2: asked him, I said how many how long you been
19:35
Speaker 2: doing this and he said twenty years. And I thought
19:38
Speaker 2: about it for a second. I said, how many times
19:40
Speaker 2: have you missed volunteering? Because it's a weekly volunteer thing
19:44
Speaker 2: that he does, and he could count on one hand
19:48
Speaker 2: how many times he had weekly volunteered. And so he
19:51
Speaker 2: has a pride and he has of work and he
19:54
Speaker 2: has a care for these young soldiers typically that he
19:58
Speaker 2: got to do, he got to press is a sergeant major,
20:02
Speaker 2: and that he gets to expresses a Red Cross volunteer,
20:05
Speaker 2: asking if they got the socks that they need, asking
20:08
Speaker 2: if they got the body wash that they need. And
20:10
Speaker 2: he knows exactly what these young nineteen year old and
20:14
Speaker 2: twenty year old soldiers want just by looking at him.
20:18
Speaker 2: And he has an authenticity that you can only get
20:21
Speaker 2: from being a sergeant major for thirty plus years, and
20:27
Speaker 2: that he represents just one of our ten thousand volunteers. Yeah,
20:31
Speaker 2: this past year, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day both fell on
20:35
Speaker 2: a Thursday, which is the day in which those volunteers
20:38
Speaker 2: and Andrews do that particular work. He was there on
20:40
Speaker 2: Thanksgiving and he was there on Christmas Day.
20:43
Speaker 1: That's huge. I'm glad you shared that about Gary, And
20:45
Speaker 1: you know, it just reminds me when we talk to
20:47
Speaker 1: good people like you and your team members and your volunteers,
20:51
Speaker 1: it's always the little things that make a difference, don't
20:53
Speaker 1: they That you talk about body wash and stuff for
20:56
Speaker 1: the shower and make sure you have all the necessities.
20:58
Speaker 1: It really is the little thing some times that make
21:00
Speaker 1: a difference.
21:01
Speaker 2: It's the little things that you asked me at the
21:03
Speaker 2: beginning about Claire Barton.
21:04
Speaker 1: Yeah.
21:05
Speaker 2: Right, it all goes back to Claire Barton and being
21:08
Speaker 2: a humanitarian and being a human right when you see
21:11
Speaker 2: the person across from you as a human and you
21:14
Speaker 2: think what can I do for them? Right? Oftentimes it's
21:17
Speaker 2: not big, grandiose things. It's the small thing that makes
21:20
Speaker 2: the biggest difference when you're looking across from somebody. It's
21:23
Speaker 2: a hug, it's body wash, it's the toothbrush. It's the
21:27
Speaker 2: little things that allow us to be human with one another.
21:31
Speaker 1: You know, I imagine a lot of our listeners right now
21:33
Speaker 1: there are getting the same feeling that I'm getting. Is
21:36
Speaker 1: that with a rold On fire? And then you hear
21:38
Speaker 1: about the garys out there, you once again have faith
21:41
Speaker 1: in your fellow man that it's going to be okay,
21:44
Speaker 1: that there are good people out there. There is some
21:46
Speaker 1: outstanding humanity helping other people out there. I'm glad to
21:49
Speaker 1: share that. Thank you for that. I did want to
21:51
Speaker 1: ask you because I joke sometimes in this series about
21:54
Speaker 1: that it's not always unicorns and rainbows all the time,
21:57
Speaker 1: and running nonprofits no matter if you're a two person
21:59
Speaker 1: or or one hundred person division. It's hard, especially when
22:03
Speaker 1: it comes to donations and volunteers, and it's a machine
22:07
Speaker 1: that never stops for you. And I get that in
22:09
Speaker 1: fact that you can see how tired Dale is right
22:11
Speaker 1: now if he was on my team screen, he's probably
22:13
Speaker 1: working eighteen hour days right now. So he's got a
22:15
Speaker 1: new house and making sure his ac works. But I
22:18
Speaker 1: did want to ask you about challenges. I'm sure there
22:20
Speaker 1: are several, but as you, as CEO work in your
22:23
Speaker 1: region here, what kind of challenges right now are you facing?
22:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is you know, when I talk to other
22:28
Speaker 2: CEOs as well and other executive directors of other organizations here,
22:32
Speaker 2: it's been a tough year, yeah, for the for the
22:35
Speaker 2: nonprofits here in this region for a variety of reasons.
22:39
Speaker 2: But really we're seeing the biggest thing that I would
22:43
Speaker 2: say is we're seeing an increased need across the board
22:48
Speaker 2: and we're seeing some uncertainty about how we can fulfill
22:50
Speaker 2: that need as we as we look at how we
22:54
Speaker 2: can you know, mention the power of donors right how
22:58
Speaker 2: we can make sure that we're fund to the level
23:01
Speaker 2: that we need to be so that we can make
23:03
Speaker 2: sure that Gary has the body wash that he needs.
23:05
Speaker 2: Right to give to that young soldier. And so it
23:08
Speaker 2: is a significant need and it's not one normally I
23:13
Speaker 2: don't I don't talk about the fundraising piece. It's such
23:16
Speaker 2: a strong way, but it's one that is significant now
23:19
Speaker 2: and it's significant not only for the Red Cross, but
23:21
Speaker 2: for other other nonprofits in the region as I know
23:26
Speaker 2: many of them have been stretched as well. As we
23:29
Speaker 2: face different things in different times a year in different ways,
23:32
Speaker 2: and then we have faced honestly in a long time.
23:36
Speaker 2: And so if you you know, I would, I would
23:38
Speaker 2: challenge your listeners, that doesn't matter what if you if
23:41
Speaker 2: it's the Red Cross or if it's somebody else, right
23:43
Speaker 2: like now the time, if you have the ability to
23:46
Speaker 2: make that difference to to help in this in this region,
23:50
Speaker 2: make that donation. And I used to have a I
23:53
Speaker 2: used to have a board chair. When she would do
23:57
Speaker 2: the big appeal for our annual board can and pain,
24:01
Speaker 2: she would go around to everybody and she would get
24:03
Speaker 2: their their board pledge and then she would ask them.
24:06
Speaker 2: She would ask them, are you are you comfortable with
24:08
Speaker 2: that number? And if they said yes, she was like,
24:10
Speaker 2: I need you to write down a number you're uncomfortable with.
24:13
Speaker 1: Fantastic that is that is sales personship right there. That's fantastic.
24:18
Speaker 2: She is incredible. But her point really is that like,
24:22
Speaker 2: if you're comfortable giving it right, like to really make
24:25
Speaker 2: it meaningful to you in an act, in an act
24:28
Speaker 2: of generosity, you should be a tiny bit uncomfortable. That's
24:32
Speaker 2: what it really means. And that and that's kind of
24:34
Speaker 2: my challenge to people who have the means and the
24:37
Speaker 2: ability is to like step up, you know, and do
24:41
Speaker 2: what you can.
24:42
Speaker 1: It's a great, great story. I'm glad you share that.
24:44
Speaker 1: We've got about four minutes left. I want to talk
24:46
Speaker 1: about one thing before getting some final thoughts, and that advocation.
24:49
Speaker 1: I know that you do that. And whether you're going
24:52
Speaker 1: to Capitol Hill, or you're talking to your board members,
24:54
Speaker 1: or you're getting the word out there and talking to
24:56
Speaker 1: your peers around the country, what does advocation look like
24:59
Speaker 1: right now for you and the American Red Cross.
25:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, so for right now, we're doing a lot of
25:03
Speaker 2: just raising awareness. I think, and often in my conversations
25:08
Speaker 2: that I have with folks, it is around uncertainty, right like,
25:10
Speaker 2: we don't know what this is going to look like.
25:12
Speaker 2: And so I had a conversation yesterday with some state
25:16
Speaker 2: officials and it was providing reassurance. You know, we are
25:20
Speaker 2: a certain yea, the Red Cross has been here since
25:23
Speaker 2: eighteen eighty one and we'll be here until twenty eight
25:26
Speaker 2: eighty one, and we're not going anywhere. And that's because
25:31
Speaker 2: we're volunteers from your community. That's because of the generosity
25:34
Speaker 2: of the community being able to make that difference here.
25:37
Speaker 1: One positive thing I want to ask you when you
25:39
Speaker 1: started over fourteen years ago to where you are getting
25:42
Speaker 1: into this new role. And anytime we start a role, folks,
25:44
Speaker 1: you have no idea what you're in for. That's just
25:46
Speaker 1: the world. That's a job, that's everything right and whatever
25:49
Speaker 1: you think that your assignments are, there's one hundred that
25:51
Speaker 1: have been added on. That's just life. With that said,
25:54
Speaker 1: what is something that's happened over the last decade and
25:56
Speaker 1: a half that's really excited you, not only for your
25:59
Speaker 1: position but for the American Red Cross that you came
26:01
Speaker 1: in you know green, and now you've got all this experience,
26:05
Speaker 1: you've seen all these people, your team members of volunteers.
26:08
Speaker 1: What's changed dramatically that we can get excited about and
26:11
Speaker 1: that you're positive about.
26:12
Speaker 2: You know, when I first came to the Red Cross,
26:13
Speaker 2: I thought about people volunteering and cookboards and paper right
26:17
Speaker 2: like you know, And nowadays, to be honest, we're so digital,
26:22
Speaker 2: we're so fast, we're so innoative. You have to be
26:26
Speaker 2: how we're trying to help people. We have to write,
26:28
Speaker 2: do you want digital cash? Great? You know, do you
26:31
Speaker 2: want money on a debit card? Great? Do you want money?
26:36
Speaker 2: All the different things that we use in technology, whether
26:38
Speaker 2: it be AI that we're using increasingly amounts of in
26:42
Speaker 2: our work to understand that, to increase our call center work,
26:45
Speaker 2: or to make sure that you're talking to the right
26:47
Speaker 2: person as fast as possible. Right, little things that basically
26:51
Speaker 2: allow us as humanitarians to connect humans faster is function.
26:56
Speaker 2: Is the amazing pay piece about being in a Red
27:00
Speaker 2: Crosser now is that, Yeah, we were doing that before,
27:02
Speaker 2: but we've really stepped on the gas here in the
27:05
Speaker 2: last few years to use the tools to be as
27:10
Speaker 2: cutting edge and efficient as we can to help the
27:13
Speaker 2: most people in the biggest, broadest possible way.
27:16
Speaker 1: Well, it makes sense, that's what it is. Because we're
27:18
Speaker 1: living in an expeding world that you've got to have
27:20
Speaker 1: it now, and whether it's social media or whether you're
27:22
Speaker 1: helping people. Having money in your account right now or
27:25
Speaker 1: showing up to a disaster right now is a really
27:28
Speaker 1: big deal. So I appreciate you sharing that. I do
27:30
Speaker 1: want to get some final thoughts, really enjoy the conversation.
27:32
Speaker 1: As always, we've got about two minutes here, So maybe
27:35
Speaker 1: what we talked about, recap about all the things that
27:37
Speaker 1: people can do and give the website. Obviously, Dale, the
27:40
Speaker 1: floor is yours.
27:41
Speaker 2: So what I would ask your listeners right is go
27:43
Speaker 2: to Redcross dot org and you will see any number
27:46
Speaker 2: of different programs that we do there, whether it be voluntar,
27:50
Speaker 2: putting your hand up to volunteer, taking a class in
27:54
Speaker 2: babysitting or CPR or first aid or whatever you need
27:57
Speaker 2: to make a difference, or being able to make a
28:00
Speaker 2: blood donation. I challenge you to go there. I challenge
28:03
Speaker 2: you to see a picture. I challenge you to see
28:05
Speaker 2: a story and choose one thing. You don't have to choose.
28:09
Speaker 2: You know, it's not a bing goo board. It's choose
28:12
Speaker 2: one thing, make a difference, and feel really good that
28:15
Speaker 2: you did that one thing that day. That's what I
28:18
Speaker 2: would ask people, especially nowadays, as we as we get
28:23
Speaker 2: into hurricane season and you know, you don't have to
28:25
Speaker 2: make a plan and do all that stuff. Pick one
28:27
Speaker 2: thing that's great, Pick one thing make a difference in
28:30
Speaker 2: your community.
28:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's well said. And if I counted correctly on
28:33
Speaker 1: the website, because they only talked about to them, I
28:35
Speaker 1: think you have at least twenty one programs that you offer,
28:37
Speaker 1: which is pretty extraordinary. So there's a lot there. And
28:41
Speaker 1: I suggest that people go, let's get the website one
28:42
Speaker 1: more time so they can check it out.
28:44
Speaker 2: You can go to Redcross dot org.
28:46
Speaker 1: If people donate, because they always want me to ask
28:49
Speaker 1: this specifically to you in your region, how's the money allocated?
28:53
Speaker 2: The money the money stays here, right, So if you
28:55
Speaker 2: donate to the Red Cross and you're from the DMV,
28:58
Speaker 2: the money will stay here, and it will and it
29:01
Speaker 2: will help them go to support those those programs that
29:03
Speaker 2: we have here. If you choose to donate to Typhoon
29:07
Speaker 2: or another storm and that money goes there, just help
29:10
Speaker 2: and support those people. We're really proud of how much
29:13
Speaker 2: money we take to put directly into the hands of
29:17
Speaker 2: the people that we're trying to help. And ninety cents
29:20
Speaker 2: on the dollar goes directly to where we needed to
29:23
Speaker 2: go with just ten cents helping to support our overhead
29:26
Speaker 2: to be able to make sure that we are here
29:29
Speaker 2: in future years.
29:30
Speaker 1: That is really good to know Dale and Listen. It's
29:32
Speaker 1: great to catch up with you again. Thank you so much.
29:33
Speaker 1: We'll have you back again, but continue success, have good summer,
29:36
Speaker 1: make sure that HVACT is working at the new house,
29:39
Speaker 1: and thank you again for joining us on Community DC.
29:41
Speaker 1: We really appreciate it.
29:43
Speaker 2: Thank you. I really appreciate being here.
29:48
Speaker 1: I killed it so clean the oceans and make good
29:52
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