By Mark Maginn, American Red Cross

Kate Appleman often accompanied her parents to their medical offices and helped out with the patients from the time she was a child.

“I just always knew I wanted to help people.”

Because of her commitment to public service, the 22-year-old Southeast Missouri State University senior was awarded the 2021 American Red Cross Youth Impact Award from the Missouri-Arkansas Region.

While in high school in Jackson, Missouri, Kate came across a flyer advertising a Red Cross Club. She joined the club and began helping organize Red Cross blood drives sponsored by the National Honor Society. She also organized video cards to send to veterans, working with friends to produce the greetings and to distribute them to those who had served in the armed forces.

Working with Michelle Johnson of Red Cross services, Kate began organizing local blood drives on her own, and has already organized or participated in twenty-three blood drives at the high school and college level.

Kate believes deeply in the Red Cross mission to prevent and alleviate human suffering—to everybody.

“Diversity and inclusion are important in all fields,” she said. “Volunteers of diverse backgrounds have unique talents that appeal to more varied groups when disaster inevitably strikes.”

In addition to volunteering in her own community, she has helped high schools in nearby towns develop clubs so young people can learn the value of volunteering and connect with the Red Cross.

Kate cites her parents as the great influence in her life to serve others. “They are the most strong, caring and kindest people I’ve ever met. They genuinely care about people.”

She will graduate from Southeast Missouri State University in the spring of 2022, with a major in Biomedical Sciences. She hopes to continue her education at a medical school, with the ultimate goal to follow in her parents’ footsteps.

For her own dedication to service with the American Red Cross, and for her exemplary efforts to encourage other students to volunteer with Red Cross by establishing clubs in local high schools, Kate Appleman is the recipient of the 2022 Youth Impact Award.