By: Zoe Fenner, Red Cross volunteer

Driving through active wildfires 2,000 miles from my home, I could never have imagined the breadth of work and life experiences I’d gain through my internship with the American Red Cross. This summer, I interned with the Disaster Cycles Services team in Washington, D.C. with the Red Cross of the National Capital and Greater Chesapeake Region.

I decided to intern for the American Red Cross because I wanted more than the typical intern experience — taking coffee orders and making copies — and hoped to obtain real-world insight into non-profit and humanitarian response work. No two days at the Red Cross are the same, and for the eight weeks I spent at national headquarters, I saw firsthand how people and resources are constantly being mobilized in response to disasters nationwide. The Disaster Cycle Services team is always on the move!

Over the summer, I had the opportunity to tour our region's blood processing lab in Baltimore, meet with patients and volunteers with our Service to the Armed Forces program at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and shadow meetings at the D.C. Emergency Operations Center.

For the final two weeks of my internship, I deployed to Oregon to volunteer in Red Cross shelters on a disaster relief operation. When I arrived, shelters throughout the state had already been established to support families displaced by wildfires.

On my first day, I traveled throughout the state to deliver medical supplies and saw the extent of damage the wildfires had caused. I was assigned to work at a shelter just three hours south of Spokane, Washington, where wildfires had forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents.

Working 12-hour night shifts for two weeks, I was challenged by shifting circumstances and changing information. However, the incredible volunteers I worked with and the knowledge that I was contributing to a mission bigger than myself far outweighed any challenges.

Looking back, I often think of a conversation I had with a fellow volunteer in the quiet, early morning hours at the shelter: if we are lucky enough to have the opportunity to help others, then it is our obligation to do so.