Volunteer Spotlight: Jackie Jones and the Red Cross

Jackie Jones came to the Red Cross after 9/11 because she wanted to help and put her social worker training to good use. Ten years later, she can't imagine a week without service to the organization.

"I go every Friday," said Jones, a Bedford resident since 1976. "And sometimes more than that. The Red Cross provides a place to do the work that feels good in my heart."

You don't have to be a social worker to volunteer with the Red Cross because 95 percent of the work is volunteer-driven—opening up a wide variety of possibilities, Jones said.

"When people think of the Red Cross, they think of Clara Barton and giving blood," she said. But one of the initiatives she's most proud of is a little known aspect of the organization's service—to military families.

Jones helps to facilitate a military family support group that meets at where resources, information and companionship are shared with family members who have a loved one serving in the military. The group is also part of network that provides emergency communications to military who are deployed.

In the video posted with this story, Westchester resident Marilyn Arroyo describes the benefits of belonging to the group Jones helps to facilitate.

Arroyo says the group helped her to feel secure and gave her a sense of belonging. The Red Cross was able to notify her husband—on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan—immediately when her mother died. He was able to be with his wife at her mother's funeral.

"What's happening is that we have more men and women being deployed who wouldn't have [before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan]," said Jones. "We have locals in the National Guard going out for two and three deployments—and there's no military base here. It can be very isolating for families. So it's wonderful to be a part of this service."

Jones is also part of the disaster action team network, in which volunteers are on call for a week at a time to support individuals and families who are victims of such disasters as storms, hurricanes or house fires. The team addresses a family's immediate needs quickly by providing food, shelter, clothing and "comfort kits," which might have blankets, toothbrushes and other essentials for a few days.

Jones serves in a counseling role as a mental health volunteer for the victims and other Red Cross volunteers, who may become overwhelmed themselves in traumatic incidents.

"I've been on calls for floods, train accidents, fires and Hurricane Irene," said Jones. "The mental health team member can reduce the stress of the volunteers—even if it's just bringing someone a cup of coffee and asking how they're feeling. It's nice for them to know, 'someone is watching over me, too.'"

Jones said most Red Cross volunteers have experienced tough days.

"Some situations are hard to work with, where there might have been a death in the family or the loss of a pet. But we bolster each other's spirits. We listen. If someone has the opportunity to talk about what's going on, there are fewer repercussions afterwards," she said.

For her own mental health, Jones is a delighted grandmother of three and an avid birder. She said she and her husband are "not shoppers" and enjoy being outside and involved in the community.

People volunteer for many different reasons—and when Jones started, she wasn't sure what she'd find. But for her, the Red Cross provides an opportunity to connect with a diverse, committed group of people who are like-minded.

"So many of us have talked about the fact that the people we help could have been us," she said. "Suppose it was me that was in a shelter? Put yourself in someone else's shoes. I get back as much as I give." 

In Westchester, the Red Cross is actively recruiting volunteers in the following fields—disaster response, mental-health, logistics and blood services. To learn more, visitwww.nyredcross.org/MetroNewYorkNorth, or email Andrew.Sindell@redcross.org.