By Josh Davis, Red Cross volunteer

The American Red Cross comprises hundreds of thousands of volunteers who share a common goal of providing essential services to people in need – locally and globally.

That includes Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) reservists, a special volunteer workforce who deploy on six-month rotations to serve alongside active military members worldwide. Teams of Red Cross SAF and International Services volunteers are stationed in Kuwait, Djibouti, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Lithuania.

Three local volunteers from the Red Cross of the National Capital & Greater Chesapeake Region were recently deployed overseas: Susan Buczkowski to Poland; and Sandy Birdsong and Miriyam Nitzberg to Kuwait.

Buczkowski, a social worker from Maryland, said her experience was a great way to showcase her flexibility, creativity and desire to help others. Her journey started with training stateside with two dozen other volunteers from varied backgrounds.

“There were some [volunteers] who were young mothers. There were some who had been in the military when they were younger, and there were some who were just at that phase of life where they were looking for something different,” she said. “So, it was all kinds of people, and you really bond with the other Red Cross workers. You’re a team that meets together for training, and everybody stays in close touch and there’s a lot of support.”

After training, Buczkowski was deployed to a base with both Polish and U.S. soldiers.

“Once you’re there, you’re representing the Red Cross,” she said. “It’s the original function of the Red Cross, where people went overseas to where there were military engagements going on and they just supported the troops – whatever that looked like, wherever it was, and based on what the needs were.”

Her tasks ranged from gathering and distributing needed hygiene and personal care items to planning and hosting activities. She also facilitated calls to the Hero Care Network, a program that provides emergency communications and critical services to military members, veterans and their families worldwide.

“You had the freedom to develop and build your own program, which is kind of cool,” she said. “There’s always a person before you, and you can either continue running the programs and activities that have already been established, or you can switch things up. I’m more of a physical person, so I got rucksack marches going and organized yoga classes and things like that, but then the person who replaced me is not a physical person, so she was planning other things.”

Buczkowski would also recruit Red Cross volunteers from among the active military members and then go out into the community to provide further aid and services.

“A bunch of my volunteers and I went to a school, and we helped build a fence for their farm animals, and we chopped firewood and did all kinds of helpful things,” she said. “We also worked on a basketball league with the Polish soldiers and the American soldiers. So, we’re trying to collaborate with the community.

“It’s very broad, and it’s a lot of fun,” she continued. “I met so many really cool, interesting people. And the troops really appreciate us and what we bring to the table.”

Buczkowski said she would absolutely recommend the program to others, especially those with broad interests.

“Definitely do it,” she said. “It was just a great experience to step out of your everyday routine and go do something completely different, and to see a different culture. And it was very positive in every regard. Everybody has such a very positive connotation of the Red Cross, and so everybody is super friendly and helpful.”

The Red Cross provides in-person support for troops on all military installations in the U.S. and on more than 35 installations overseas. Find out more at RedCross.org/SAF