Volunteers With Disabilities

Teaching a Second Generation

Kathy King, a Red Cross instructor for three decades, has served many Minneapolis families.

When Kathy King took roll call at the beginning of her Red Cross Aquatics class, one of the names sounded very familiar. Was it someone she knew from the neighborhood? Someone who she had once met at a social function? A forgotten acquaintance, perhaps? As she thought about the name some more, she realized the connection—Kathy had taught the student’s parent many years before in the same class.

It’s no surprise that Kathy would be educating generations of families -- she started her American Red Cross career in 1973 and for 30 years has served the Minneapolis area as a volunteer in Red Cross Health and Safety Services and Disaster Services. She is an Adapted Aquatics instructor and also trains other instructors to teach Adapted Aquatics.

Kathy herself has fibromyalgia syndrome, neurofibromatosis and arthritis. She uses an electric scooter, but, by no means, has she slowed down. Because of her contacts with persons with disabilities, her leadership in the Red Cross Adapted Aquatics program has helped expand this program throughout the metropolitan area of Minneapolis. “People see me and realize that they can do a whole lot more than they think they can,” says Kathy. Her background as a special education and adult basic education teacher has helped her to identify students who need additional help and to implement adaptations so that the students succeed. Participants in her classes certainly agree that she is an outstanding instructor.

Kathy is also a CPR/ First Aid/AED instructor and volunteers to teach 12 classes (9-12 hours long) each year for the Greater Minneapolis Area Chapter. In addition, Kathy teaches specialty courses in Health and Safety including CPR for the Professional Rescuer and Sport Safety Training.

In 1996, Kathy expanded her volunteer commitment to the Red Cross by joining a disaster action team. She currently serves as a city dispatcher, and, in this capacity, she is on-call 130 hours a month and dispatches approximately 18 disaster calls a year, serving as the communication link between the Minneapolis Fire Department and the Red Cross disaster responders when there is a disaster in Minneapolis. She calls volunteer responders, helps them get to the scene of the fire, provides them guidance on Red Cross procedures, helps disaster victims receive Red Cross assistance and refers clients to other community resources when appropriate. Kathy develops procedures for dispatchers, trains dispatchers, and recruits volunteers to serve as responders or dispatchers.

In addition to volunteering for the Red Cross, Kathy volunteers for the Courage Center, the Special Olympics, an Asian Culture Club in her neighborhood, and a Community Action Group in North Minneapolis.

Sally Domson, Manager of Marketing and Community Presentations, describes Kathy by saying, “She is an excellent spokesperson for the Red Cross and always gives the best to the community she serves. Often, Kathy willingly changes her schedule to teach a class when another volunteer instructor cancels on short notice. Kathy is an organized, highly trained instructor who receives excellent evaluations from her students.”