By Sivani Babu, American Red Cross

When an EF-3 tornado tore through Winchester, Indiana, on March 14 of this year, Jackson Todish knew he wanted to serve. He drove from his home in nearby Cambridge City to see how he could help.

There was one problem. Todish was only 17, so officials asked him to help unload a pallet of water and then turned him back. Determined to serve, he was disappointed but not deterred. On October 3, Todish, now 18, joined the American Red Cross, answering a call for volunteers to assist Hurricane Helene relief efforts in the Southeast. Ten days later, he arrived in Florida to assist people impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

“I joined when Hurricane Helene hit,” Todish said. “I wanted to step up. I originally thought I was going to get deployed to North Carolina, and then Hurricane Milton hit.”

Todish is partnered with Robert Zalewski, a Red Crosser with numerous deployments under his belt. Together, the two have been driving an emergency response vehicle delivering hot meals to people in need.

At Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church in Tampa, Todish and Zalewski joined forces with members of the church, the NAACP, and the Tampa Muslim Disaster Response team to serve meals to residents.

“This is powerful.” said neighborhood resident Charles Reynolds as he picked up lunch. “It’s a blessing to see people like you guys put yourselves on the frontline for the communities. I’m ever so grateful. I’m ever grateful for everybody who gives.”

For Todish, it’s the desire to be of service in times of need that brought him to the Red Cross and to Florida.

"It makes me feel great,” Todish said. “It’s a lot of hard work... but I think it pays off. I just love to do it. It’s kind of flipped my world around to be gone for two weeks and to see people happy because we’re helping out, even if it’s just one meal at a time.”

Visit redcross.org to follow Jackson Todish’s lead and sign up to volunteer or to learn more about youth volunteer opportunities.