For Brittney Rabens, volunteering with the American Red Cross at Maxwell Air Force Base began with a desire to serve her military community.

When her husband became commander of the Maxwell Medical Group, one of the concerns they heard most often from patients was the long wait time in the pharmacy. Helping to grow the Red Cross volunteer program became one way to support the pharmacy and respond to concerns patients had been raising.

Over the past two years, that work has grown. As volunteer lead, Brittney helps recruit, onboard, schedule and support volunteers serving within the medical group. During that time, the program has grown from four active volunteers to 20.

For Brittney, though, the most meaningful part of that growth is not the number itself. It is seeing what volunteering can mean for the people who step into it.

As a military spouse of 24 years, she knows how important it can be to find connection in a new place. Many of the volunteers she welcomes are military spouses, retirees, or others new to the area, and helping them get connected and comfortable in their roles is a key part of her work.

She remembers one newer volunteer, a doctor from Nigeria, who came to Maxwell Air Force Base while her husband attended school and was unable to practice medicine in the United States. Through the Red Cross, she found a place to serve in the pharmacy, where she now helps dispense medications and support patients multiple days each week.

As volunteer lead, Brittney has worked to create that kind of environment, one where new volunteers feel supported, valued, able to grow into their roles and do what they love to do.

She said, “Seeing someone grow in confidence and truly feel like they belong has been incredibly rewarding.”