Volunteers Deliver Direct Aid

MARMORA – Every eight minutes in the U.S., the American Red Cross connects with a family who lost everything to a home fire or other disaster.
This past year was no exception, where, in New Jersey, Red Cross volunteers responded to more than 900 local disasters, mostly home fires. They helped more than 2,250 displaced families; collected more than 94,500 units of blood through blood drives and Red Cross Blood Donation Centers; provided more than 5,114 military family case services with emergency messages, helping families find assistance and/or get counseling and referrals; and trained nearly 110,250 individuals with life-saving skills in preparedness, CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), AED (automated external defibrillators) use, first aid and aquatics.
Behind the scenes, volunteers like Karen Lawinski, of Marmora, are dispatched to help victims deal with lost medicines, injured family members or the death of loved ones. Lawinski serves as the American Red Cross Disaster Health Services Leader for New Jersey, coordinating a team that includes nurses, nurse practitioners and emergency medical technicians who respond to disasters across the state.
Their work is made possible by other volunteers like Veronica “Ronnie” Town, a Marmora resident who served on the Red Cross’s board of directors, raising funds and speaking to groups throughout the state about the organization’s value.
Town is a natural fit to serving as the “face of the Red Cross in Cape May County,” as described by Carol Cohen, Red Cross Southern Shore executive director. That is because of all the partnerships she’s developed over 35 years in her role as Atlantic City Electric’s (ACE) external affairs manager and the emergency management events that ACE is often in the middle of when disaster strikes.
During nine years of serving on the board of directors, Town raised funds, donated blood and played an active role in many of the Red Cross’ campaigns. She is one of four volunteers being recognized at the Raising Spirits event March 28.
March was first proclaimed Red Cross Month in 1943 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to raise awareness of the organization and its humanitarian mission. All U.S. presidents since Roosevelt have designated March as Red Cross Month to recognize how the American Red Cross helps people across the country and around the world through its workforce powered by more than 90 percent volunteers.
In addition, the Red Cross asks individuals to be a hero by becoming a volunteer, learning lifesaving skills, giving blood or donating to #help1family on Red Cross Giving Day, March 27.
“Ronnie is being recognized at Raising Spirits for her long-time commitment as a board member, and for her dedication to the mission,” Cohen said. “Ronnie serves as the face of the Red Cross in Cape May County, often attending events with me or on my behalf, including the annual freeholders’ Cape May County Proclamation for March. She is well-known and well-respected throughout the county and beyond.
“In her continuing role as a board member, Ronnie, along with her counterparts at ACE, has been a true advocate for us, helping ACE become this chapter’s largest Ready 365 financial supporter,” Cohen added.
Personally, Town has also taken advantage of Red Cross programs. She said her first husband had Lou Gehrig’s disease, and she learned CPR through the Red Cross, saving his life at one point when she needed to administer to him.
Over nine years, she has given of her time and energy to support the Red Cross mission in a very hands-on way. She not only donates blood on a regular basis but helps to promote donor response for drives where sign-ups are low, according to Cohen.
Town has played an active role in the Red Cross Home Fires Campaign, putting together a team which includes her family members, to go door-to-door educating families about fire safety and installing free smoke alarms.
“The last two years, our team has installed the most alarms,” Town noted.
Town also is a staunch supporter of the Red Cross Armed Forces and veteran outreach initiatives and has educated and influenced financial supporters through her enthusiastic promotion of Red Cross services, according to Cohen.
“I’ve been a volunteer since I was a Girl Scout and think it’s important to give back,” Town said. “I received help when my husband got sick because the disease took all our savings.
“I believe what the Red Cross does is important, and volunteers can help make your disaster better,” she added.
Making the disaster better is what Lawinski’s team aims to do, as she works quickly to dispatch help when disaster strikes in the state. Since joining the Red Cross in 2003 – the events of Sept. 11, 2001, prompted her to get involved – she helped in shelters during ice storms and other major weather events such as Hurricane Irma, trained emergency response techniques and spoken at conferences about the organization’s services.
“As a volunteer, it can sometimes be demanding and constant work,” Lawinski said. “Without the backing of your family and the understanding of what it means to give and receive assistance, I don’t think I could have done as much as I have.”
She recounted when she and her surgeon husband were working and she got a call that she was needed the next day to deploy for Hurricane Irma. “I told my husband I was needed the next day, but he didn’t respond right away,” she recalled. “When I got called away, we would have to reschedule surgeries and make other arrangements in the office.
“I went along prepping for the next day when my husband said ‘Go. Do what you have to do.’ We gather pre-storm so we are on the ground when the storm hits. My husband jokes that he’s on the Red Cross diet because his wife isn’t home cooking,” Lawinski added.
When she and her team respond, they can be away from home for days. Lawinski was gone for 12 days after Hurricane Irma. After Hurricane Michael struck, 12 New Jersey volunteers were onsite; over the Christmas holidays, three others from the state were in California helping victims of the wildfires.
While dealing with tragic events is never easy, Lawinski said, helping families deal with death is the hardest. “It can be very heart-wrenching, but it is sometimes the best work we do,” said Lawinski, a registered nurse who worked in her husband’s surgical practice before they both retired.
“We have a great medical team we bring to the field to help victims of disaster,” she added. “We will help you get your medications, clothing, food, even phones so you can connect with insurance companies and others who you need. If you need equipment after you leave the hospital, we can work with the social workers to get you what you need.
“I think the Red Cross does good work and it can always use your help volunteering or financially,” she added.
The American Red Cross prides itself on its transparency and commitment to donor intent, according to Cohen. “While we are actively raising funds, we encourage potential donors to broaden their designation so that funds may be distributed where it is, in fact, needed most,” she said. “So, for example, if a donor designates 2019 Hurricane Season, funds can be used for direct client service at any named occurrence during that season.
“If a donor designates ‘Disaster Relief,’ that enables us to consider distribution to families affected by home fires or any other disaster-related event,” she continued. “But if the designation is Hurricane Michael, that is where the money is used.”
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.