Michael A. Lampert became a Red Cross volunteer when he was a teenager in Pennsylvania in 1975. He continued volunteering when his family moved to Florida, through college and two law degrees and when he began practicing law.

By the time Hurricane Andrew blew across the foot of Florida, he was a trainer, teaching other volunteers to be trainers, and was on the Palm Beach County chapter's board of directors.

After Andrew, he recalled: "Dade County was overwhelmed, just absolutely overwhelmed," he said. "As the Palm Beach chapter, we just stepped up. We stepped up big-time."

Lampert had multiple roles and began training volunteers to help residents get back on their feet, damage assessment, get emergency assistance for families, and operate shelters.

"People would just show up," he said. "Some were existing volunteers; other people were not."

The newly trained volunteers began to help immediately, many of them sent to South Dade to work with families who needed assistance.

"Depending on what time we finished the class, somebody would then walk them from the building to the train station, and they would get on the train to Homestead," he said.

Lampert, who had a one-year-old at home, sometimes arrived before the sun rose and left after dark. Some days he did not see the sun.

As a result of what he saw after Andrew, he is a big advocate for training – training Red Cross volunteers to respond to disasters, pushing them to cross-train so they have multiple skills, and coaching them to cope with obstacles that could crop up in the field.

Today, Lampert continues to volunteer with the Red Cross as a Community Preparedness trainer.

Written by Marjie Lambert, American Red Cross Public Affairs