More than a volunteer, an American Red Cross warrior

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jessica Hines
  • 31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy --  "It's kind of hard to explain it. Why do I come in here at 7:30 every morning, I'm not getting paid for it?"

Jim Williams, Aviano American Red Cross station chair and volunteer, sits in his second floor office just down the hall from where he was once lived as a young Airman.

"I like my work, the people, it's a connection with the community," said Williams, who was assigned to the 31st Security Police Squadron at Aviano Air Base more than 40 years ago.

A family of volunteers, the American Red Cross' mission is to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.

"Our main purpose for being here is emergency communications," said Robyn Cadwallader, AARC station manager. Cadwallader, a longtime volunteer with the organization, has built her career on the mission and community values of the American Red Cross, which have set the organization apart as a trusted support system in critical times.

"I grew up in it, my family volunteered with the Red Cross," she said.

Like so many others who volunteer with the organization, both Williams and Cadwallader represent the diverse reasons that attract people to support the unit.

The center offers first aid, CPR and automated external defibrillator classes among its many training and certification courses, which include baby sitting and pet first aid.

For service members, the ARC is well known for their emergency notification services, which serve as a link between American armed forces and families during crisis and hardships.

"We do messages for immediate family members of service members, essentially any unique family situation that puts an Airman's family at risk. We make sure affected Airmen know what's going on," said Cadwallader.

In the age of social media and instant communication, some might wonder why this type of service is still important to today's military.

"Social media is great for making those quick notifications, but what it doesn't do is provide a third party confirmation of events," said Cadwallader. "This means contacting a medical examiner's office, funeral homes, hospitals, legal offices, whatever it takes to get the information from someone outside the concerned family," she added.

But the notification serves an additional purpose; the message is also intended to notify the servicemember's chain of command.

"We verify an emergency exists, so the commander can make a decision on emergency leave, which affects travel options," said Williams.

The AARC is always looking for volunteers in a wide range of areas to help support its mission.

Tracing its roots to the International Committee of the Red Cross, founded in 1863, the ARC began through the efforts of Clara Barton, a teacher who organized a program to help locate soldiers missing in action during the American Civil War. She developed her humanitarian work into the ARC, headquartered in Washington D.C., after seeing the success of the ICRC in Europe.

For the Aviano traveler, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum is located six hours west in the tourist friendly city of Geneva, Switzerland, along with the headquarters of the ICRC.

To learn more about the American Red Cross, visit: http://www.redcross.org/