Ernie Fox volunteers with the American Red Cross of San Bernardino County and was recently named Volunteer of the Month.
“For me, there is no greater motivation than being there for people and not letting them down."
- Ernie Fox
By Joe Gutierrez, American Red Cross volunteer
Ernest ‘Ernie’ Fox’s introduction to the American Red Cross dates back to 2004 when he exited a plane from Adwar, Iraq, while serving in the U.S. Army.
He calls it his ‘WHEN’ moment of learning about the Red Cross.
“I received a Red Cross message that my father had cancer, and it was bad. He had a 50 percent chance of living,” Ernie said. “This was the first I had ever heard of the Red Cross. Because of them working diligently with my Army leadership, I got home in time to see him before the operation and also to see him continuing to live his life.”
However, it was nearly two decades later that the ‘HOW’ of joining the Red Cross took place.
“It took that long. Being in the military isn't just all boots and guns,” Ernie said. “A big part is being a humanitarian. Being kind to others in very bad situations when you could be the total opposite.”
“The HOW showed itself one day when my therapist/ mentor (who also volunteers for the Red Cross) told me about volunteering with them, too,” Ernie said. “She also shared her work, experiences, thoughts and reflections with me.”
He added that “another volunteer showed me I could still be of service and showed me something I had forgotten 20 years earlier. The Red Cross makes a difference because when you volunteer, you care.”
After that, he joined the Red Cross San Bernardino County Chapter. For his hard work, dedication and zeal, Ernie was enthusiastically nominated and named the Red Cross Volunteer of the Month for January 2025. “Ernest’s commitment and proactive approach have truly significantly benefited both the Red Cross mission and the community. He is a go-getter who sees the bigger picture and makes a difference in multiple ways,” according to his nomination.
One thing that attracted Ernie to the Red Cross were the “numbers.”
“The numbers are approximately 19,000 (employees) to more than 275,000 (volunteers),” Ernie said. “For every one employee there are more than 15 volunteers. The Red Cross could not maintain without you. You are the American Red Cross. Not to take away from the employees but 15 people are stronger than one. But thank you to the ones that guide us. You are appreciated, too.”
Ernie was also drawn to the non-profit because so many people still have jobs and families to take care of and find the ability to give back as they do.
“I'm retired from the military and all I do is watch TV all day. If man or/and woman can work their jobs, take care of their children and volunteer to help others, then so should I,” he said.
He believes he is a good fit for the Red Cross because it was ingrained in him.
“You can say I have been doing volunteer work for a very long time. From reluctantly volunteering to take care of my siblings, to working in elementary school reading to kids as a high school student and joining the military at a young age,” Ernie said. “It's ingrained in me. It's my nature because of who my Mama was and how she raised me: To help others in need because I can.”
In the Red Cross, he works in the Service to Armed Forces (SAF), going to military installations such as the Marine Corps Base at 29 Palms and helping troops with issues similar to the one he went through with his father’s illness. “I also get to go to the veterans hospital and bring joy and energy to the people there.”
Ernie has also worked in the Disaster Action Team and volunteers at Sound the Alarm smoke alarm installation events, which he likes to call “the sound of donuts and pizza!!!”
“But that’s just a happy plus. The good feeling comes with knowing you as an individual can save lives installing smoke alarms, and smoke alarms save a lot of lives,” Ernie said. “Being able to go into a community and help others feel more secure and safe in their home because they now know and have fire prevention just makes me feel good on the inside.”
He said he stays involved because of the people.
“For me, there is no greater motivation than being there for people and not letting them down,” he said. “This is very contradicting for me as people used to be the reason I stayed away. But as I have suffered, I have witnessed others suffer and realized that we need each other. If I stay involved, you suffer less. I suffer less. And we motivate each other to better days.”
Ernie said his Red Cross “moment” came at a Veterans Day parade last year. In one of his first events as a volunteer, he witnessed the crowd’s reaction to the Red Cross volunteers and employees making their way down the parade route, passing out American flags. He said he could see the admiration and respect these people had for the Red Cross,
“I could literally feel it in my body. Goosebumps!!! These people loved the blood drop mascot, and they were proud of the American Red Cross,” Ernie said. “That's when I realized how much good has already been done, especially to warrant that type of reception.”
He said the Red Cross volunteer recruiter was at the parade. “I was trying to convey to her my feelings and how I been looking for my place to be, and she had literally said, ‘That's how you know this is where you’re supposed to be.’ It’s hard to forget that moment or that this is the right organization because of people like the recruitment lady and the blood drop mascot.”
While he jokes that the best thing about volunteering with the Red Cross are the “donuts and pizza” from a Sound the Alarm event, “seriously, it's just fun breaking bread with people you don't know but are in many ways just like you,” Ernie said. “Meeting different people from different walks of life is a beautiful thing. I don't have a big family or much of a family nor anyone to tell me where I come from. I have a German heritage side of me that I do not know anything about, but when I meet someone from Germany whom I get to volunteer with, that makes me feel a little more connected.”
He said his message to fellow Red Cross volunteers is maybe more for him, not only as a volunteer but as a human being.
“We tend to push ourselves to the brink because we care with abundant love and energy, but I must be patient and wait diligently. I must continue to train, to question and to learn. I must love me first ("airplane oxygen mask" - I can't help anybody if I can't breathe),” he said. “Whatever the case, you must serve where you can and be ready to be called for more. We need you. You are important, you are special, you are somebody and you belong.”
His message to potential Red Cross volunteers is – why not?
“If you can give one Saturday every few months to eat pizza and donuts, why not? Feeding your tummy with good food around good people is really fun, but feeding your heart, mind, body, and soul with what you get back from volunteering with the American Red Cross is something very hard to describe. It's easier for you to know it if you feel it, so try it and see what it feels like to you. It's a different feeling to everyone but a beautiful one.”
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