The Good Life – March-April 2015

The Power of Volunteers
Bearing Help and Goodwill
BY: SOO ASHEIM | PHOTOS: URBAN TOAD MEDIA
“
Without the
amazing people
we have who are
willing to help
and volunteer
time after time,
we couldn’t do
what needs
to be done.
— Brian Shawn
LEARNING WHAT I DIDN’T KNOW
Recently, I sat down with an amazing group of five men
who represent the DAKOTA CHAPTER of the AMERICAN
RED CROSS. Brian Shawn, the Regional Communications
Officer; Sean Coffman, the Disaster Program Manager; Terry
Askin, the Government and Community Liaison and two of
the local Red Cross Board members, who volunteer their time
in an advisory capacity: Mark Jensen, V-P of Western Bank in
West Fargo and Ray Grefsheim, V-P of Bremer Bank in North
Fargo. These gentlemen re-educated me about an organization
so well known, no one could misidentify it with another,
The AMERICAN RED CROSS. However, what I learned about
today’s American Red Cross not only surprised me, but shores
up my belief that in every able bodied person there is also a heart
beating with good will toward their fellow human and when the
chips are down the extension of helping hands do reach forward.
A BIT OF HISTORICAL REVIEW
When Clara Barton convinced her friends to join her mission
to establish the first Red Cross in Washington, D.C., the plan
was to establish a network in alleviating the pain and suffering
of survivors from natural disasters such as floods and fires and
diseases spread throughout whole communities. One might
wonder if she ever knew her dream of spreading humanitarian
aid would one day grow into a worldwide organization.
Since before World War I, The Red Cross has been on hand
to help whenever a major crisis involving multiple populations
have been at risk. During World War I the number of local
Red Cross Chapters leaped from 107 to 3,864 by 1918 and the
30