By Joe Gutierrez, American Red Cross volunteer

Give Tom Leach a camera and a direction, and he feels at home and starts working on one of his passions – telling a story with images.

That interest and dedication to visual storytelling was put to good use when Tom, who became a volunteer with the Orange County Red Cross Chapter in December of 2024, started covering Red Cross events such as blood drives, fundraisers, and sports tournaments in Southern California.

It also resulted in him being named the Southern California Region Red Cross Volunteer of the Month for 2025.

Tom downplays receiving the award, preferring to point to the people and events he shoots.

“I get an assignment and go out and photograph whatever they need to tell their story,” Tom said. “Sometimes I'll go out and capture some blood draws. I was down in San Diego with the Red Cross, photographing their participation in the Genesis Invitational Golf Tournament because they received a large donation, along with the World Central Kitchen and a few others during that tournament. So, things like that, whatever comes up, whatever they need, I'll go and shoot it.”

The Communications department, which submitted Tom’s nomination, praised his efforts.

“Tom’s exceptional photography skills and keen eye for detail has a made a positive impact on our visual content. His ability to capture candid moments and the spirit of our events brought a new level of engagement and professionalism to our Communications department. This has helped us better showcase our work.”

Tom became aware of the Red Cross’s responses to local disasters during the Airport Fire, which was near his home in Trabuco Canyon. Tom, no surprise, had taken out his camera and began taking pictures of the fire, its destruction, and the responses to help victims of the decimation.

“I knew the Red Cross was involved in relief efforts. That got me thinking about the Red Cross, and maybe they need a photographer,” Tom said. “I cold-called the Red Cross. I went online and figured out where to apply and specified photography. Then I went through the interview process, background check, and all those things.”

His first assignment as a Red Cross volunteer was photographing the Light The World Giving Machine Event sponsored by the Red Cross and the Church of Latter-Day Saints in December 2024 at Huntington Beach.

Since then, Tom has volunteered to cover numerous high-profile events and volunteer opportunities for the Red Cross, including the Red Cross’ support at the Rose Parade in Pasadena.

Tom enjoys it because it allows him to follow one of his passions – taking pictures, which he prefers to do over shooting videos.

“For me, it’s an image that can tell a story all by itself. In video, the frames go by quickly and the small expressions and details can be missed,” he said. “For that reason, I prefer stills.”

Tom’s interest in photography started as a youth, but fell away from it as he got older. But he picked it up again about 10 years ago. He did some photography while working for Walt Disney Imagineering, where he designed audio and visual systems for mostly “E-ticket” attractions around the world, working on projects in New York, and parks in Anaheim, Florida, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris and on Disney cruise ships during construction.

“I would do a photograph of a lot of the attractions for photo documentation for our show Lighting People,” Tom said.

His interest in helping out in the community also includes being chairman of the South County Photo Club’s community outreach program, which provides photography services free of charge to non-profit organizations throughout Orange County.

His motivation for being a Red Cross volunteer is the camaraderie – the team spirit between the Red Cross staff and volunteers.

“I shoot a lot of different nonprofits. And there's always a hierarchy between staff and the volunteers,” Tom said. “The Red Cross doesn't seem to have that. The staff and the volunteers work side by side. It's nice to be in an organization like that where it seems to be very inclusive.”

He said his Red Cross moment came during his first assignment.

“I was to go out and photograph the Light The World Giving Machine Event. It was a press thing. There was going to be media there and things like that,” Tom said. “The Red Cross trusted me, not knowing me at all, to photograph that, and I was the only one there doing that for them. They put a lot of trust in their volunteers. I thought that was really nice.”

His message to fellow Red Cross volunteers showed appreciation for their hard work and commitment.

“Their dedication to their tasks is amazing,” Tom said. “Everybody's a hard worker and really dedicated to doing their task the best they can.”

And he would tell potential Red Cross volunteers it’s a great place to start volunteering.

“If you're interested in volunteer work, the Red Cross is a great place to start,” Tom said. “There are so many opportunities. There are classes, training programs and support from the staff. It's a good place to start.”

Tom also showed three of his favorite pictures he has taken as a Red Cross photographer.

The first image is of Mikie Guerrero and his family. In 2020, Mikie was in a serious vehicle accident, and in the first 24 hours of his emergency care, he required 32 units of blood and a total of 64 units throughout his treatment.

Three years later, Mikie continues his path of recovery. As a thank you to the blood donors that helped provided Mikie lifesaving blood products, Mikie and the Guerrero family hosted the “In Honor of Mikie Guerrero Blood Drive.” The date marks the anniversary of the terrible accident and turns it into a life-changing day offering hope and healing to hospital patients in need of blood products.

Wrote Tom: “Because he received so much blood, he wanted to give back and support the Red Cross. This guy is on fire for the Red Cross and blood drives. He's like a preacher. He is just so excited about the blood drive and increasing the number of donated units. This is a yearly event for him and his family. His family is very nice, and they're all behind him 100 percent. He's a very ambitious young man attending college. Yeah, he's going to go somewhere.”

The second photo was from the Inland Empire Hero Awards held on March 18. One of the honorees was 9-year-old Ariel Barba, who received the Youth Hero Award. Ariel saved her three-year-old brother from drowning and administered lifesaving CPR, which she learned from watching a YouTube video.  

Wrote Tom: “Look at the expression on Ariel’s face, how proud she was. She represented that award. Look at her expression looking down at that award like that. I thought that was great.” 

The third image was from the Rose Parade on January 1, 2025, where the Red Cross had a number of stations set up to help those in need during the parade.

Wrote Tom: “ I just like the scene. Here, we have a nurse just treating that girl that had heat issues. The activity around her, all the hands, all the activity going around, has a feel of movement, urgency, things like that. And then the nurse is very calm right in the middle.”