By EILENE E. GUY, American Red Cross volunteer

“There’s a lot of pride in that vest.”

Teresa Greenlief considers herself a hard-core American Red Cross volunteer. Retired on disability after 15 years as a firefighter/EMT, she spends as much as 30 hours a week on activities with the Greater Akron and Mahoning Valley chapter. “I do everything I can,” she says proudly.

Teresa, who calls Cuyahoga Falls home, manages the chapter’s vehicle fleet and is trained to do mass care and feeding, disaster damage assessment, family reunification and local disaster response. She actively leads the chapter’s campaign to prevent home fires. “We’re focused on prevention, installing free smoke alarms and education.”

When she’s not at the chapter — “The chapter feels like home” — she’s eager to spread the word about the Red Cross. “I wear my ‘merch ’even when I’m not working,” she says warmly. People approach her when they see the iconic red cross on her jacket or T-shirt.

“My most asked question is, ‘where do I donate blood? ’The Red Cross is so much more than collecting blood, but that one’s a lifesaver.”

The Red Cross provides a framework for Teresa, and more than 300,000 volunteers across the country, to show their compassion for their fellow man. “It takes empathy and humility,” she says. “We all need it.”

During National Volunteer Week especially, we salute all the volunteers, like Teresa, who put on the red vest and give their time and talents to help prevent, prepare for and respond to disasters. They make up more than 90% of the Red Cross workforce that:

• teaches 4.5 million people a year first aid, CPR and AED,

• provides more than 480,000 services to the men and women in our armed services, at home and abroad,

• prepares to respond to an average 65,000 local disasters each year, most of them home fires,

• continues to install free smoke alarms (2.6 million alarms installed and counting!) and help families make home safety plans (saving more than 2,300 lives in 19,560 towns across the country),

• supports Red Cross operations in office settings and virtually,

• and more!

“There is such a need for the Red Cross,” Teresa says with emphasis. “You have to have empathy for people and be a team player, but the rewards will come back to you ten-fold.”

Just like the people it serves, the Red Cross welcomes people from a wide array of cultures, lifestyles, ages, backgrounds and beliefs. Come join us! Begin at redcross.org/volunteer.

Edited by Glenda Bogar, American Red Cross volunteer