Gary Olivero’s introduction to the American Red Cross represented the perfect confluence of timing, skills and opportunity. ”I was always a connector,” he says now. “It was part of my basic philosophy growing up. As a boy scout, it was always ‘be prepared and do a good turn daily’.” Decades later, Gary has repeatedly turned to that motto as a guiding force in his life.  As the Northeast Division Finalist for the American Red Cross Presidential Award for Excellence, Gary has been described as a “lighthouse” for the organization, able to guide volunteers and staff through challenges, combining contagious energy and passion with calm and steady leadership.

Although he didn’t discover the Red Cross until he was in his 50’s, Gary says a light went on when he saw the damage done by Hurricane Katrina. “Like so many other people, I raised my hand.” Having just left his job at MetLife, he says, “it was the perfect time to try something new.”

_{"When people get displaced, it’s a horrible feeling. When the Red Cross gives people these tools, it gives them the power to try to get their lives back under control.”} 

But one of Gary’s greatest contributions to the Red Cross came, not as part of disaster response, but through his ability to enhance the local volunteer experience. “People perceive the Red Cross as a physical building in their community,” Gary says. “But the distinction is that the building may have nothing to do with the Red Cross. Ninety percent of what the Red Cross does is done by volunteers… so one of the things I created – was a booster club for the community of volunteers. You get to know what other people do and it creates more of a community relationship.” Kim Goetz, executive director of the American Red Cross of Central New Jersey, called it a “simple approach to a complicated problem.” Gary developed a roster of volunteers across all Red Cross lines of service who lived within 15 miles of his home. He identified a meeting location, personally contacted dozens of volunteers, and brought them together through what became known as the Holmdel “Booster Club.”

Olivero says bringing people together came naturally to him. “I was always in sales, which was always about what can I do to help people. And I was always a connector – I’m not afraid to talk to politicians, not afraid to talk to staff.” Goetz notes that the booster club “plays a critical role in leveraging the power of neighbors by building friendships among volunteers who would not have met due to their siloed volunteer meetings at the department level.”  Olivero calls it a “prototype” he hopes will be adopted across New Jersey and elsewhere.

Across his roughly two decades with the Red Cross, Gary Olivero has filled many roles, building his skills with each passing year. He was a blood donor and a disaster volunteer and later served as a board member for the Central New Jersey Chapter for ten years, including a stint as chairman. “The board involvement opened my eyes to the entire breadth of the Red Cross,” Gary says. “Depending on what part of the country you’re in, you have a different view of the Red Cross. Some people think it’s just about giving blood. Some people see you as the military folks, others see the disaster component and the preparedness component. When you’re on the board, you learn all these things.”

When asked what galvanized his desire to work with the Red Cross, Gary recalled his time deployed to his first disaster – an ice storm that paralyzed the Northeast in December of 2008. He headed to New Hampshire where heavy ice knocked out power to nearly half a million people. It was roughly two weeks before it was all restored. “The whole community comes to this high school,” Gary remembered. “And we took care of them for a week and a half. Eye-opening experience. No matter how much money you have, if you can’t do anything, the Red Cross shelters become the go-to place.” He described it as a “multi-tiered resource” – a one-stop shop for people to get food, electricity, medical resources, or simply kill time when there was nowhere else to go.

Over the years, Olivero deployed to numerous national disaster operations, including the Joplin Tornado in 2011 and Hurricane Ian 2022. And in 2012, like so many millions of other New Jersey residents, he found himself as the victim of a natural disaster – Superstorm Sandy.

“In Sea Bright, the whole town was gone,” Gary recalled. “The post office, the barbershop, the firehouse.” The experience changed his perspective and gave him new insight into the organization he had been working with for years. “One of the takeaways that I had was that I’ve deployed in Texas, Mississippi, Florida, and I’d given away hundreds and hundreds, probably thousands of clean-up kits,” Gary says. “Never opened one. So then the Red Cross shows up in front of my house. That was the first time I realized the utility of these great boxes. The tool I had never understood – but what I walked away with that day – was the tool of empowerment. When people get displaced, it’s a horrible feeling. When the Red Cross gives people these tools, it gives them the power to try to get their lives back under control.”

The experience underscored the Red Cross mission in Gary’s mind: not only to help others, but to empower them so they can help themselves. Gary Olivero has been living and promoting that mission for decades now, by connecting Red Cross volunteers, guiding its representatives and serving as an enthusiastic and passionate symbol of how life can be lived for others. It doesn’t appear he intends to stop anytime soon.

By Volunteer David Murphy