"Alexis is pretty special. She is sharp, she is outgoing, she is always active and out doing things whether it is professionally or with her family." To say that Paul Fey is proud of his daughter would be an understatement. So, when he got to work with her on a project in their hometown, he couldn't have said 'yes' fast enough.

"I was like, Dad if I could get you up to Alaska, would you be able to just volunteer with the Red Cross and help us install smoke alarms and just be like our connection to the community to help build relationships between the Red Cross and Organized Village of Kake? And he said yes, of course," said Alexis Blake, Paul's daughter and Community Disaster Program Manager with the American Red Cross of Alaska

Alexis was working on a project to bring volunteers to the Organized Village of Kake, a small island community in Southeast Alaska, to install smoke alarms and conduct community outreach at the annual Dog Salmon Festival. The Red Cross of Alaska had never had a presence in Kake until this project, and Alexis hoped that by bringing her dad, she could foster a better relationship in the community to ensure they knew they could rely on the Red Cross should disaster strike.

"I was a Red Cross volunteer for 10 years before I decided to apply for a job here," said Alexis. "So Red Cross is something I'm super passionate about and sharing this trip with my dad and seeing him interact with his peers and old friends and, just family members, I mean, it helps my whole soul."

Paul, Alexis, and the rest of their family moved away from Kake nine years ago but said coming back together was something they had always dreamed about. "That was one of the things that was so amazing about this was that my wife and I quite frequently talk about how we can give back to Kake," said Paul.  "And you know it's a small place with lots of needs, lots of people with amazing hearts, and to be able to do a little thing for them was pretty special."

During the trip, the volunteers in Kake installed 37 smoke alarms and taught more than 30 people hand-only CPR.  Alexis said the secret to working well as a father-daughter duo was knowing who was really in charge. "My dad's just really easy to work with. I never get to give my dad directions. Usually, I'm the one taking them, so that was really exciting. This time that, I was telling my dad what to do and was like, 'put in the smoke alarm go do this', and he would," she laughed.

As the saying goes, like father, like daughter, and Alexis, too, shared just how special her father is.

"I wanted to use this trip to show him how appreciative of him I am and what a great role model he's been my entire life," she said. "How much love that he's just poured into me, and my siblings and I just wanted to pour some love into him too."

The work in Kake has just begun. Alexis said smoke alarm requests are still coming in, and she hopes to return to her hometown to further her connection and make the community a bit safer.