A Hand Helping Another Hand - Marcos Cabrera

Red Cross volunteers represent a variety of cultures and backgrounds. When they dedicate time to our organization, they bring along with them a unique skill set, forged through their own life experiences.

Louisville Area Chapter Board Chair Dick Swope presents Marcos Cabrera with a Volunteer Rookie Award at the 2011 Volunteer Recognition Luncheon on October 27.

Volunteers in our path are the blaze

that move us ahead with a strong gaze.

The words above are an excerpt from Marcos Cabrera’s poem “Red Cross Volunteers.” Marcos began writing poetry in 1965, just after moving to the United States from the Dominican Republic. He has  written more than 2,000 poems about love and life, carrying a notebook and pen with him at all times, prepared for inspiration to strike at any moment.

Marcos has published three books of poems. He is currently promoting the third in the Dominican Republic. Writing poetry keeps him busy, but after retiring, he felt the need to give back to the community and finally had the time to do so.

In March of 2011, Marcos visited the Fort Knox Red Cross Service Center to become a volunteer. He was first asked to work with “Helping Hands,” a program that provides food, clothing and household goods to qualified military families in the Fort Knox area. In a matter of a few months, Marcos went from spending one or two hours with “Helping Hands” to dedicating the majority of his free time to Fort Knox special events and programs including the Run for the Red 5/10K, the Xtreme Youth Volunteer Program and the Camp Red Challenge where kids participate in outdoor activities while learning disaster preparedness and basic first aid.

His positive attitude and motivation to help wherever needed earned him a Volunteer Rookie award at the Volunteer Recognition Luncheon on October 27, 2011.

"His dedication to serving the soldiers and families on Fort Knox show his greatest ability, selfless service," said Fort Knox Service Center Manager May Giulitto.

Marcos served in the U.S. Army for 20 years and has been assisted by Red Cross services to armed forces. In July of 1984, while Marcos was stationed in Greece, his father passed away. The Red Cross helped him communicate with his family and helped cover travel expenses in order for him to return to the Dominican Republic for his father’s funeral.

“I feel good when I can help a soldier because I was a soldier," Marcos said. "I know the things they go through."

Marcos said he volunteers for the Red Cross because he gets a chance to help others and work with a group of positive people willing to give something back to the community.

“The main idea is a hand helping another hand,” Marcos said. “You can’t always give what people need, but you can give what you have.”

National Volunteer Week

Each April, a week is set aside to honor the men and women that support organizations like the American Red Cross through a donation of time. Volunteers make up 93% of the Red Cross workforce. They teach life-saving skills, help military members connect with their loved ones during emergencies and respond to disasters day and night. And that is only a portion of the tasks they take on to help deliver Red Cross services.

While they all come from different backgrounds, exhibit various talents and help in countless ways, they all share a passion for helping others. In honor of National Volunteer Week, April 15-21, the Louisville Area Chapter blog is highlighting local volunteers and their work with the Red Cross. Beginning Monday April 16, visit our blog for daily profiles introducing you to a few of our dedicated volunteers. We hope you take a few minutes of your day to read their stories. They might even inspire you to become a volunteer yourself.

Pet Therapy Program grows (four) legs in Fort Knox

Brenda Adams and her Golden Retriever, Valentine, graduate from the Fort Knox Pet Therapy program.

Fort Knox went to the dogs on September 15, as 12 pups graduated from Pet Therapy training. Under the wing of the Clark County Red Cross Chapter in Southern Indiana, the Fort Knox Service Center is starting four programs in which the trained pets will provide comfort and companionship to others including soldiers on base.

Puppy Tales at Barr Memorial Library in Fort Knox encourages kids to read by giving them an opportunity to spend time with participating dogs.

Wounded Warriors takes trained pets into hospitals where they visit injured soldiers.

Welcome Home to the Troops takes trained pets to greet soldiers who are returning from deployment overseas.

K9 Assisted Therapy, undertaken by dogs and trainers with the help of an occupational therapist, will provide pet therapy to soldiers including those who have suffered brain injuries and others who are dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Brenda Adams hopes the K9 Assisted Therapy program will be able to provide the same kind of comfort to others as her dogs did with her late father.

After suffering a stroke, Brenda's father stopped speaking and lost interest in his previous hobbies. The one thing that brought him out of his shell was Brenda's dogs. When she noticed his attentiveness while watching her dogs, Brenda further encouraged her father's involvement eventually organizing a dog training contest for him to focus on accomplishing a goal.

This is the same kind of therapy the group is hoping to provide for the soldiers—creating a bond between the soldier and pet therapy team in a non-hospital or clinic setting. If you are interested in becoming involved with any of the Fort Knox Pet Therapy programs, please contact the service center at 502-624-2163.

'Tis the season to serve those who serve

Yesterday, service men and women around the world began receiving cards from the American Red Cross Holiday Mail for Heroes campaign. The campaign is in its fourth year and was started as a way to send members of the armed forces a little piece of home while they are on base or in a military hospital.

The Fort Knox Service Center has its own way of thanking service members during the holidays through the Santa's Workshop program. The program's mission is to provide toys to military families at Fort Knox facing financial challenges this holiday season.

Beginning in October, the service center accepts applications from military families. Once a family is approved, they are invited to shop at Santa's Workshop where they can choose two brand new toys, a book and stocking stuffers for each child. Each family also receives a board game to encourage family togetherness.


This year, Santa's Workshop provided nearly 500 families with 6,500 toys and 16,000 stocking stuffers. Some of the toys given out included bicycles assembled and donated by Thornton's during the company's annual team-building humanitarian project.

Toyland

Organizations in Fort Knox pulled together on Nov. 7 to help out the Fort Knox Red Cross. Every year, the Fort Knox Red Cross puts together a Santa’s Workshop where approved soldiers in need can shop for their families for free. To collect toys for the workshop, Knox Hills and the Bluegrass Sergeant Major Association hosted “Toy Trot”—a 5K walk/run. Participants were required to donate a toy or make a monetary donation.


A volunteer helps set up for Toy Trot.

Over 100 people attended and $109 was donated. The 114 toys collected flooded the lobby of the Fort Knox Red Cross. Keisha (a fellow AmeriCorps) and I later helped transport the toys to the Santa’s Workshop—a house that could give the North Pole a run for its money.


Just a section of the Fort Knox Red Cross Santa's workshop.