Story told by Rebecca Marshall
Claire Tryon radiates southern charm and kindness with a nice mix of no-nonsense. She’s not new to this deployment thing, in fact, this response to Hurricane Ian marks her 100th deployment.
So why does she keep doing it? Without a beat, she answers, “Because I like what I do and I’m good at what I do.”
Her time with the American Red Cross started in 1998. She was a volunteer firefighter at the time and was going to school to be a paramedic. But she hurt her knee and she knew her career was over. Then Tropical Storm Allison hit in her backyard, and she decided to help by joining the American Red Cross.
“They said, go open a shelter, so I opened a shelter,” Claire describes how she began a 24-year volunteer career.
When the Red Cross responded to the attack on 9-11, she moved to the Logistics Team. She was on the ground in New York within nine days of the attack. She likes Logistics because she likes getting supplies to the clients.
Red Cross Disaster Vice President of Disaster Operations and Logistics, Brad Kaiserman, acknowledged her accomplishment during a staff meeting.
Tryon smiled and appreciated the shout-out, but later said, “I don’t do this for the recognition; I do it to help people.”
The Red Cross has been such a big part of her life it’s difficult to summarize all her contributions. Claire worked as a Disaster Program Manager in Waco, spent two-and-a-half years working on Hurricane Katrina as a volunteer, and six months working on 9-11. She ran a 300,000-square-foot Red Cross Warehouse in Arlington, TX. She even met her husband on her first disaster response.
“Don’t judge a book by its cover. Do two or three jobs before settling in on the one you like to do,” Claire shares advice for first-time responders. “Everybody should go on an ERV and see what they do out there. You need to see the impact we are making in the communities. That’s what brings it all together.”
YOU CAN HELP people impacted by disasters like Claire. Sign up to volunteer or donate to disaster relief today.
