National Volunteer Week Spotlight: Volunteer gives back to Red Cross after it reunited family years ago

Posted on April 21, 2025 by American Red Cross of Northern Ohio

By Kathryn Dean, American Red Cross volunteer

“…and I knew from that point on, even as young as I was…I said to myself, ‘when I’m old, I’m going to volunteer for the Red Cross,” said Linda Consolo of Stow.

A pivotal moment in Linda’s young life changed her trajectory and mindset. At the tender age of 18, just out of high school and newly engaged, her life was turned upside down. Her fiancé was drafted and sent to Vietnam, where he was wounded and sent to a field hospital. When he was well enough for transport and moved to a hospital in Japan, the army reached out to his parents, allowing only them the opportunity to visit.

Unfortunately, the cost of travel was too much for the family, and they worried if they would ever see their son again. That’s when the American Red Cross stepped in to help. They covered the costs, and his parents were able to spend the last few weeks of his life with him. This was something that Linda never forgot, and she knew one day she would volunteer for the Red Cross.

Now, nearly 55 years later, she is living that reality and has dedicated a large portion of her retirement to volunteering with the Red Cross. She has found her niche in the role of Blood Donor Ambassador, a position that she really enjoys, working sometimes up to four days per week at blood drives.

“It’s my way of giving back to them because they did something special for somebody for me. Because having his parents there for his last month or two was amazing,” she reflected.

Not only does she volunteer at blood drives, but she is also a blood donor. “I’ve given 16 gallons and one pint in my lifetime,” she proudly states. Quite an achievement, considering that eight donations equate to one gallon of blood.

“I started when I worked at Goodyear,” she explained. “Goodyear always had blood drives, and I started giving blood there because we were allowed to leave our desk and go across the street to Goodyear hall, give blood and have something to eat. We didn’t have to take time off from work. Goodyear made it easy for us to donate blood.”

“Donating blood is probably more important to me than volunteering,” she said, “but I do them in tandem. I do it every 56 days or as close to it as I can.”

Despite her busy schedule, she also finds time to bake for the workers at the blood drives, earning her the affectionate moniker, ‘the muffin lady.’

As a retiree, Linda said that she appreciates the opportunity to stay active and social and meet new people. “Now it’s time for me to give back,” she said. “It’s the thing to do. It makes your heart feel good that you’re giving back to the world. I’m doing my part and trying to give my best.”

The Red Cross is always looking for new volunteers. If you would like to learn more about this vital volunteer role or any of the other available opportunities, visit www.redcross.org/noh and click the Volunteer tab or call 1-800-RED CROSS.

Edited by Glenda Bogar, American Red Cross volunteer

Mom and daughter training to help disaster victims recover hope

Posted on March 28, 2025 by American Red Cross of Northern Ohio

By Eilene E. Guy, American Red Cross volunteer

The American Red Cross is often the destination of choice for married couples who want to volunteer: deploying to national disasters, taking therapy dogs into military hospitals, teaching health, safety and swimming skills.

Mother-daughter teams aren’t so common –- which is why Jennifer Barth and her daughter Ganessa Ney stand out. They’re bringing their individual educational and career experiences to the Red Cross to “give back” to their communities.

Ganessa, 33, was the first to look for an opportunity that would fit with her already busy schedule. A mom of one son and two teenage step-sons, she’s a sales manager for a senior living community and is finishing her second master’s degree (This one in psychology to go with a master’s in health administration.)

She’d heard of the Red Cross; a family member is a blood donor and big booster of that service. But it was an ad on television that prompted Ganessa to go online and learn about all the other things the organization does with volunteers.

“Wow, I could do something like that,” she said when she read about helping people in her own community who are struck by disaster.

Ganessa felt that becoming a disaster caseworker would fit her skillset and her schedule. Caseworkers work one-on-one with individuals and families after a disaster to help them sort out their needs, offer what assistance the Red Cross can provide and refer them to other community resources.

During 2024, volunteers opened 1,743 cases across the Red Cross northern Ohio region.

It occurred to Ganessa that casework might be just the thing for her mom too.

“I suggested the Red Cross to my mom,” she said. “It’s something she can do in her spare time.”

There’s a backstory to that “spare time” comment. Jennifer has been coping with the loss of three close family members within the past few years –- including her son from COVID. She admitted that having a way to help others in their time of distress would be good for her, too.

She was pleased with the wide variety of “jobs” the Red Cross offers volunteers. “They were so flexible,” she said, “so I felt comfortable to step forward.”

Jennifer, 52, worked as a U.S. census counter for 10 years and more recently has worked for Child Protective Services, so she’s comfortable talking — and listening — to people.

After completing online coursework focused on Red Cross disaster principles in general and casework in particular, Ganessa and Jennifer are “shadowing” an experienced caseworker, learning how help happens in real life.

“Here in northern Ohio and southeastern Michigan, the Red Cross responds to more than four local disasters every single day,” said Deb Pressley, Red Cross disaster program manager for the northwest counties of our region. “Dedicated, trained volunteers like Jennifer and Ganessa are ready to bring comfort and hope to our neighbors in the dark hours and days after disaster strikes.”

Jennifer is looking forward to that role. “I would want somebody to help me if I needed it,” she said.

If you’d like to find out more about the many volunteer opportunities with the Red Cross, visit here for more information.

Edited by Glenda Bogar, American Red Cross volunteer

Paul Wadowick: from lifelong blood donor to blood transfusion recipient

Posted on March 19, 2025 by American Red Cross of Northern Ohio

By Tim Poe, American Red Cross volunteer.

Our lives can change in a moment, posing difficulties, presenting challenges. In many of these instances, the American Red Cross is there to help, including providing life-saving blood when a transfusion is needed. Such was the case for Paul Wadowick of Ashtabula County. After he was diagnosed with blood cancer in the spring of 2021, Paul went from being a lifelong blood donor to being a blood recipient. Paul, who is also a Red Cross volunteer, was gracious enough to speak with me about his background and experience.

Paul has dedicated himself to assisting others throughout his life, and his parents were an early inspiration. Paul became aware of blood donations in the 1950s when his father, a universal donor, had a capability test for another person’s open-heart surgery. His mother was also a donor. Paul followed suit, and from 1968 until 2021, donated 137 units (17 gallons + 1 unit) of blood, helping to save many lives in the process.

While donating blood in 2021, he became aware of a problem. As part of our services, Red Cross blood donors receive a mini-health screening, including a hemoglobin test. Paul’s iron level had dropped dramatically. Shortly thereafter, he was working as a Blood Donor Ambassador at another blood drive, took the hemoglobin test again, and knew he had to see doctors. He learned he had blood cancer and began undergoing chemotherapy.

In October 2021, Paul received a “High Chemo” 15-day treatment, where he received two units of platelets, which are a component of blood. He recalled hearing how a donor of whole blood can save many lives. It then hit him that his was now one of those lives.

Thankfully, Paul’s cancer is in remission, and he continues his volunteer work with the Red Cross, mainly as a Blood Donor Ambassador, in addition to other community service.

Paul’s sense of responsibility and service is lifelong. As the third oldest in a family of 10, he assisted in the care of younger siblings and household chores. He was also class “dean” in his high-school seminary, volunteered in a long-term hospital, and found his calling in social work. After earning his degree and certification, Paul spent decades as a social worker, mostly at a long-term-care facility, while continuing his community service, including with the Boy Scouts. Paul and his wife, Denise, raised two sons.

After retiring in November 2015, Paul became a Red Cross volunteer in January 2016. He is also a member of the Knights of Columbus and credits his faith for his perseverance, gifts, and outlook.

Melissa Papini, a Red Cross Blood Services Account Manager, pointed out that Paul has been a Blood Program Leader with the Knights of Columbus for almost four years, recruiting over 400 donors and collecting 382 units of lifesaving blood.

Paul cited several favorite experiences as a Red Cross volunteer, especially photographing volunteer recognition celebrations, smoke alarm installations, and blood drive events in ways that tell a story. He also enjoys coaching and easing blood donors through the process and sending them home with a “Thank You.” And while he can no longer donate blood, he is happy to help recruit, organize, and bring in donations from others.

For anyone considering donating blood, Paul asks, “What would you do if you needed blood?” and reminds us that we may find ourselves, like he did, in a position where we or a loved one need it.

To schedule a donation, please visit www.redcrossblood.org.

Diverse blood supply is more important than ever

Posted on February 28, 2025 by American Red Cross of Northern Ohio

By Eilene E. Guy, American Red Cross volunteer

Volunteers are the lifeblood of the American Red Cross. And by extension, volunteers provide lifesaving blood and blood products to millions of people across the nation every year.

This chain of generosity begins at the local level, at an average of 500 blood drives and blood center collections every day. Last year, the Red Cross sent more than 6.3 million blood products to some 2,500 hospitals and other health care facilities.

But in the past two decades, the number of Red Cross blood donors has fallen by about 40%, with a significant drop among those between 16 and 22. As our national population ages and becomes more diverse, building the next generation of donors is critical.

The University of Akron alumni chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, a sorority of scores of African American women, is helping meet that need by sponsoring blood drives.

Earlier this month, their event netted 30 units of blood, which will go to treat as many as 90 patients.

Drives like these are vital to maintain a stable supply of blood for trauma victims, surgery and cancer patients, fragile newborns and those with medical conditions such as Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). This hereditary condition can be life threatening: It leads to anemia (shortage of red blood cells), causing fatigue, organ damage and periodic severe pain, known as a sickle cell crisis.

Blood transfusions from donors of the same or similar ethnicity and blood type are the most effective way to treat a sickle cell crisis. Since most people with SCD are of African descent, blood from Black donors is the gold standard for treatment. In fact, one in three African American blood donors is a match for a patient with sickle cell disease.

As a northern Ohio district manager for Red Cross blood services, Sabrina Spikes works to recruit and educate a larger, broader base of blood donors, including the Black and African American, Latino and LGBTQ+ communities.

“It’s a testament to the work of Delta Sigma Theta that they sponsor at the University of Akron,” she told me. “We need to have diverse partners, to do more education.”

Education is two-pronged:

Reaching more people from all racial and ethnic groups to explain the importance of a diverse blood supply. “We know the number one reason people don’t donate blood is that they haven’t been asked,” she said. “We need to explain why a diverse blood supply is important.”
Preparing potential donors to have a successful donation experience, by getting them to drink plenty of water and eat iron-rich foods. “Cutting down on caffeinated beverages that slow the absorption of iron – coffee, tea, sodas – helps cut the deferral rate of donors, especially African American women,” she explained.

To learn more about why a diverse blood supply is so important, tap here. And, to find where you can donate and to make an appointment, go to redcrossblood.org. Someone needs you!

Resolve to volunteer in 2025

Posted on December 26, 2024 by American Red Cross of Northern Ohio

By EILENE E. GUY, American Red Cross volunteer

As we slide toward the beginning of a new year — Can it really be almost 2025?! — many of us look to a new year’s resolution.

Self improvement, better money management, leaving bad habits behind. All of them fine goals, aimed at personal satisfaction.

But how about joy? How about excitement?

Red Cross volunteer Jeff Mann of Stark County, left, during a 2022 deployment to Alaska in response to extreme weather.

That’s what hundreds of thousands of American Red Cross volunteers say they get from their chosen activities.

Here, I could quote from the hundreds of volunteers I’ve interviewed as a Red Cross disaster public affairs volunteer and now as a volunteer blogger.

But let me be personal: Every time I put a Red Cross activity on my calendar, I feel the joy, the excitement of knowing that my time will be spent helping my fellow man (or woman, or kid!).

Eilene Guy’s first disaster deployment in response to wildfires at Grant’s Pass, OR, in August 2002 with the late Bud Crick, twice nominated for a Pulitzer prize. “I figured if I could work with folks like that, the Red Cross was for me,” said Eilene.

To me, volunteering isn’t an obligation, although “giving back” is a worthy sentiment. Volunteering lifts me up, knowing I can fill a role no one else is filling. I get to choose my activity, my time commitment and my location (at home or away).

I didn’t step forward to the Red Cross 35-plus years ago. I was asked.

So now I’m asking you: Please resolve to volunteer for one of the many roles that make the Red Cross the foremost humanitarian service organization in our nation.

Teach kids how to swim, how to prepare for disaster or how to babysit. Teach adults first aid, CPR and the use of an AED. Get trained for one of the many roles in a major disaster response. (The Red Cross is responding to almost twice as many large disasters as we did a decade ago.) Donate blood or advocate for folks who suffer from Sickle Cell Disease. Become part of a chapter office staff in your community.

Here in northern Ohio, we need to expand the ranks for several key services:

Disaster Action Team: DAT members help families in their communities after a home fire or other disaster. They provide emotional support, emergency financial assistance and information to help families begin to recover.

Hero Care Network: Caseworkers support members of the military, their families and our veterans, providing free, confidential emergency communications and critical services to military families all over the world.

Blood Donor Ambassadors: These folks greet donors at blood drives, get them registered, answer questions and help them at the refreshment table after their donation.

Blood Transportation Specialists: These volunteers deliver blood from our testing and processing facilities to hospitals across northern Ohio. This is a great opportunity for anyone who enjoys driving, meeting new people and being part of a lifesaving chain of medical support.

If these activities don’t ring your bell, there are lots of other ways to engage with the Red Cross that can add joy, excitement, even good old self improvement, to your 2025. Check out Redcross.org/volunteer to explore all the options.

And please have a healthy, safe and joyous new year!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Posted on November 15, 2024 by American Red Cross of Northern Ohio

By Gail Wernick, Regional Volunteer Services Officer, American Red Cross of Northern Ohio

As I begin my 15^th year with the American Red Cross, I would like to share a message of appreciation to the truly special Red Cross team and volunteers with whom I have had the privilege of working to deliver our mission.

This fall I deployed for the first time in-person to be a part of the Hurricane Helene Disaster Relief Operation in Asheville, North Carolina. On deployment, I joined a team of dedicated Red Crossers to share volunteer opportunities with surrounding communities. Due to intermittent internet availability, the team often connected with new volunteers personally to complete volunteer intake to begin volunteering as soon as possible! The Disaster Event Based and Local Community Volunteer teams supported volunteer scheduling, with more than 200 calls/texts to coordinate and prepare for the volunteers’ engagement. The team created volunteer recognition messaging and unique ways to say THANK YOU! Each day, some more than 12 hours, was filled with new experiences, learning quickly, and adjusting to the evolving needs of the disaster operation. I will always remember my Red Cross deployment experience and the kind people I met, who inspired me and helped make a meaningful difference each day.

Thank you for delivering service in the community to help your neighbors when needed most. Your efforts are greatly appreciated, and we are most grateful for your service as a Red Cross Disaster volunteer.

Featured in the photo above, Red Cross volunteer deployment team members, disaster event based and local community volunteers from Asheville, North Carolina.

Glen McCandless, a disaster event based volunteer, featured on the far right in the photo above, volunteered at the AG Center every day for two weeks consecutively. He said, “Volunteering at the shelter and helping others in the midst of so much devastation is like salve for the soul.”

The Red Cross shelter supervisors we met extended their sincere appreciation for the dedicated disaster volunteers from the local community who tirelessly volunteered, many whose own lives and homes have been impacted by the disaster, to prepare and serve meals and offer support. Whether a volunteer gave two hours or several days of their time to help, we are grateful to them for helping deliver the Red Cross mission!

More than 1,400 Disaster Event Based Volunteers joined the Red Cross in North & South Carolina this October and November, engaging in more than 640 volunteer commitments to provide comfort, care and hope by assembling and distributing emergency supplies, preparing and serving meals, setting up and cleaning up and supporting residents impacted by Hurricane Helene.

The Red Cross is here to help make your volunteer experience the best it can be! Please continue to volunteer with us and encourage your friends and family to join you. Thank you for exploring and sharing our most-needed ongoing volunteer opportunities at www.redcross.org/volunteer. We are working hard to prepare for, respond to and help communities recover from disaster. Become a part of the Red Cross Disaster Action Team at www.redcross.org/dat.

Red Cross Clubs prepare our leaders of tomorrow

Posted on October 29, 2024 by American Red Cross of Northern Ohio

Northern Ohio Red Crossers deliver relief where hurricane survivors need it

Posted on October 9, 2024 by American Red Cross of Northern Ohio

Husband and wife team-up to respond to storms far from home

By EILENE E. GUY, American Red Cross volunteer

Jeff and Laura Mann were on what you would call a “mission of mercy” when I reached them by phone, headed for the hospital in flood-ravaged Asheville, N.C., to pick up specialized medical equipment for a baby in an American Red Cross shelter in Burnsville, another hour away.

Jeff Mann, inside the Red Cross disaster vehicle, hands supplies to wife Laura in Burnsville, North Carolina

The couple are what the Red Cross calls a “fulfillment team.” Jeff says they’re “a store on wheels.”

They deliver consumables like toilet tissue, paper towels and baby formula as well as essentials like pillows, blankets, and special need items to shelters in northwestern North Carolina, where the number of storm refugees continued to grow.

When we talked, a week after Hurricane Helene swept from the Gulf to the East Coast, the Manns were still seeing helicopters – some ferrying evacuees to shelters and others airlifting food and water to isolated communities.

Jeff, a retired YMCA executive director, is a veteran disaster responder. “This is my 15^th, 16^th (response) – I don’t know,” he told me with a chuckle. He’s served in evacuation shelters, warehouses, supply units. “I’m quite a rover… wherever I’m needed.”

Jeff Mann was interviewed by news reporters at the Akron Canton Airport before his deployment to Guam in response to Typhoon Mawar 2023

Laura, on the other hand, is on her first deployment. She’s been on the board of the Heartland, Stark, Muskingum Lakes chapter of the Red Cross for years and taken lots of disaster response training. But this is the first time her work as a CPA has allowed her to take off for two weeks.

She’s excited to be helping bring relief to a region devastated by hurricane winds and unprecedented flooding. It’s a plus that she’s working with her husband.

“Laura and I are bonding,” Jeff offered. “It’s our 39^th anniversary this week,” Laura explained. “This is a good marriage test.” They both laughed comfortably.

The couple, who call Louisville, Ohio, in Stark County home, are finding conditions in mountainous North Carolina challenging. Many roads, even if passable, are one lane where downed trees have been hacked back just enough so Jeff can squeeze his box truck through. Cell phone service and GPS are spotty.

“We were headed for the hospital in Asheville the first time and GPS died at the edge of town,” Laura recalled. “There were no streetlights and we didn’t have a clue. We just had to figure it out.”

A typical day has them at a Red Cross warehouse in Greenville, S.C., at 7 in the morning to load up, with a list of special orders to be picked up at local big-box stores. Then they head north to Asheville and on to shelters as far as Boone, another two hours away.

“We go up one side of the (Blue Ridge) mountains and back down the other,” Laura said. They were still in the truck, on the way back to Greenville, when we chatted at 9 o’clock in the evening last week.

The Manns are among the more than 2,000 trained Red Cross disaster responders providing shelter, food, emotional support, replacement medical devices and prescriptions, and other urgent needs to storm victims across five states. At the same time, some 200 Red Cross reunification staff have fielded thousands of requests for help locating loved ones.

Red Crossers and our partners have given out nearly 480,000 meals and snacks in shelters and from mobile feeding trucks. With partner organizations, they’ve provided more than 35,000 overnight stays.

None of this disaster response, which will go on for months as the Red Cross helps individuals and families plan the next steps in their recovery, would be possible without the generosity of the American people. Please consider making a financial donation by going to redcross.org, calling 1-800-RED-CROSS.

If you’d like to get trained and become part of the hands-on relief effort, as Jeff and Laura Mann are doing, visit NEOvolunteer@redcross.org or call 216-431-3328 to learn about all the different roles that might interest you.

Back in good ol’ 1955

Posted on September 12, 2024 by American Red Cross of Northern Ohio

By Mary Falconer-Williams, American Red Cross volunteer

Volunteer Bill Dreyer first spotted the poster announcing that the American Red Cross would be hosting a blood drive on the Kent State University campus in 1955. Bill attended the drive, donated a pint, and from that point on was a firm believer in the power of donating blood, and gave every chance he could.

“I know that my donations mean so much to those individuals who are fighting an illness or have been in an accident,” Bill states. Individuals like his mother, who received several pints in 1999.

A humanitarian at heart, Bill joined the Stow-Munroe Falls Lions Club in the fall of 2000 and shortly afterward began volunteering with the Red Cross helping in the refreshment area (canteen), at registration, and as a bag labeler. And in 2010 his passions combined when the Lions Club and Holy Family Catholic Church in Stow hosted a blood drive. And Bill has been instrumental in growing the impact of that first drive. The co-sponsored event has hosted drives six times a year, ever since!

65 pints of lifesaving blood were collected at the drive held on September 3, 2024.

Though he is now unable to donate blood due to medical reasons, Bill proudly notes that he has donated 278 pints of blood throughout his life.

“It’s really not hard, and the staff are gentle. Come in and see us, we’ll show you around,” Bill invites those individuals who haven’t ever donated or haven’t in a while. To find a drive near you, go to redcrossblood.org and tap “find a drive.”

Posted by Ryan Lang, Red Cross board member and volunteer

Pre-deployment training complete: Nasir is underway

Posted on July 30, 2024 by American Red Cross of Northern Ohio

By Mike Parks, Regional CEO, American Red Cross of Northern Ohio

Last Thursday, on the 25th of July, I travelled to Camp Atterbury in Indiana, to participate in the sendoff for Team 55. Team 55 is a group of 21 Red Crossers from around the United States who are deploying to military bases around the globe to help support United States service members who are stationed overseas.

Trevor Riggen, Nasir Ahmad, and Mike Parks

Our own Nasir Ahmad, Northern Ohio’s first Service to Armed Forces Mobile Specialist, is a member of Team 55. The sendoff was the end of a pre-deployment training period that helped prepare the team members for their assignments. Both Trevor Riggen, President of Humanitarian Services, and Michael Jordan, Vice President of SAF/International Services US Field Operations, travelled to Indiana to address the team—thanking them for their sacrifice and willingness to support our deployed service members. They each shared personal stories of their time in the Peace Corps (Trevor) and deployments as a U.S. Marine (Michael) and the vital role the Red Cross played in their lives.

Michael Jordan addresses deploying SAF Specialists

I had the privilege of joining Nasir and his teammates at a barbeque lunch that was supported by volunteers from the Indiana Region. It was great to spend some quality time with Nasir prior to his departure. I was also able to personally express the well- wishes of his Northern Ohio colleagues, many of whom were gathered in Cleveland for an all-staff meeting at the same time as the sendoff.

My personal highlight of the trip to Camp Atterbury was to see how prepared Nasir is for his deployment and how appreciative he is for the support of his colleagues in Northern Ohio. As Nasir heads to Baghdad, Iraq to support our service members, I’m confident he’ll bring them the same degree of joy and comfort he’s been able to bring all of us over the past year. He’ll be in our thoughts and prayers as we look forward to his return in six months!

Nasir Ahmad at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, July 28, 2024

Editor’s note: Early Monday morning, July 29 th , Nasir emailed this photo and quote: “I’m at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. Our fellow Red Crossers here are great and the volunteers are extraordinarily committed. But I’ll be leaving here soon and arriving at my deployment site so, hopefully, my next email to you will be from Baghdad, Iraq.”

Previous article: https://nohredcross.org/2024/07/12/regional-specialist-bagdad-bound/