By Ashley Henyan
Mary Gaskins is 92 years old. She’s a Red Cross volunteer and she just finished writing her own obituary. But she’s not history yet.
“Taxes and dying – those are really the only things we know, the only things we can really count on,” Mary said with a smile after reading her hand-written obituary, aloud.
But she also knows her neighbors in Baltimore, Maryland can count on the Red Cross.
“The Red Cross is always the first group to be there, to really help – after any type of these disasters,” Mary said.
This February, for Black History Month, the Red Cross of the National Capital & Greater Chesapeake Region is honored to highlight Mary for the role she has played in the Baltimore community and the impact she continues to make, today.
A life-long learner and active jewelry designer and ceramics artist, Mary volunteers two days a week at the Red Cross of Central Maryland chapter headquarters. She started serving with the Red Cross of the National Capital & Greater Chesapeake Region six years ago – at the age of 86.
“It was right down the street from my house, and Joe [Miletti], the man who hired me was just so nice,” Mary continued. “He knew I could make a difference as a volunteer with the Red Cross.”
“She walked into my office and outwardly asked if she was too old to volunteer, and of course I said absolutely not and then we got her started,” said Joe Miletti, Volunteer Services Officer for the Red Cross of the National Capital & Greater Chesapeake Region. “Beyond volunteering, Mary also makes financial contributions to the Red Cross and recently donated bags of clothing to one of our partners, GreenDrop.”
Opening her heart to help community members has always been a part of Mary’s DNA. In addition to her work with the Red Cross, she is a member of the Penn Avenue AME Zion church, a life-time member of the NAACP, a volunteer with the Lamp Light Inn, and a member of the Red Hat Ladies Society of Govans. Decades ago, in the early 1980’s, she opened her home to several medical students attending nearby Johns Hopkins University.
“I saw them walking to class at such early hours of the day. I knew they were good kids and hard workers,” Mary said. “They were away from home and my home was right there—so I just wanted to offer them a place to feel welcome; and maybe a piece of my famous pound cake, every now and again.”
One of those students went on to become the first Black surgeon at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Today, he is the president of the American Surgical Association.
As a Baltimore-based volunteer, Mary helps with writing thank you notes to donors and organizing office supplies; and she works to ensure biomedical plasma products are packaged properly – for hospital patients at around 50 local hospitals.
“I think my mother, Virginia Clayton Smith, was my biggest mentor. She taught me to be independent,” Mary said. “She taught me how to cook and sew and how to make my own clothes.”
Mary is proud of her life’s accomplishments, such as her scholarship to art school, her professional career as a guidance counselor, her international travels and finishing her Master’s in Education degree – in her late 50’s.
“The bible says to whom much is given, much is required—that’s why I’m a Red Cross volunteer and that’s why I will continue to serve my community.”