Carly Stuber began her voluntary service with the Red Cross very quickly after moving to Alaska. “I try to find a place to volunteer whenever I move and I move a lot since my husband is active-duty Air Force,” said Stuber. But unlike other moves and volunteer experiences, this one felt a little special. “I choose the Red Cross of Alaska because my grandma was active in the Red Cross when she was a military spouse.  So, it just felt like a good fit, and I wanted to carry on that legacy.”

Carly’s career as a volunteer certainly didn’t have the easiest start as shortly after she began, she was recruited to help set up two large shelters as more than 1,000 evacuees traveled from their villages to Anchorage after Typhoon Halong brought devastating winds and floods to the western coast of Alaska. She said one of the unique ways she was able to help with that particular response was one of the most rewarding experiences in her career this far. “Everything was moving so fast and we were needed so quickly. I was able to rally my own resources. I contacted my husband and his unit came and helped us to set up and shuffle cots and keep everything organized,” said Stuber. “It felt so rewarding to just be there and see everyone as they entered the shelter and to be a welcoming face I think that just being present was super rewarding.”

Carly primarily works as a client care supervisor but often is recruited on Disaster Action Team responses helping individuals after a home fire and she says while every call is different, just being with someone during a crisis makes the late nights and early morning calls worth it. “We had a recent four plex fire, and we went to the residents after the fire to help this elderly couple,” said Stuber “They didn’t know what we were offering but they were so incredibly welcoming. I mean I felt better leaving them. They were so thankful they wanted to take pictures with us. I was blown away by that.”

Carly received the Amand L Blanchard Award for voluntary Excellence, the Alaska Region’ volunteer of the year award at the annual Golf tournament after serving the Red Cross for less than a year. Carly attributes her success to her quick-thinking during Typhoon Halong and her supporters along the way. “I came in just wanting to volunteer and said ‘put me where you need me.” So being able to have people that were willing to say, ‘yeah Carly, you’ve got this, we see that you can handle the roles’, I think that is what was really surprising and rewarding and what helped me achieve this award,” said Stuber.  “Because if they hadn’t had faith in me and encouraged me and given me this opportunity then I don’t know if I would have been able to do all of the things I have been able to do this year.”