A few pleasant surprises awaited Gini Kay when she joined the American Red Cross volunteer services team last month.
“I didn’t know there was a branch of the Red Cross that helps our armed forces and provides assistance to military families so they can have a connection with loved ones overseas,” she said. “My gosh, this is awesome! Why aren’t we telling more people about this?
“I’m also surprised how big disaster services is and all the different layers that are involved.”
As the region’s new volunteer recruiting specialist, much of Gini’s job will involve just that — letting potential volunteers know about all the wide array of services Red Cross provides and ways they can jump in and lend a hand. Based in Missoula, Gini updates websites, helps volunteers through the initial application process and will attend community events where she will share the Red Cross story.
“One of the things I like about the Red Cross is we have all this information, and we know how to use it to help people,” she said.
Gini comes to the Red Cross from the Center for Environmental Health Sciences in Missoula where she worked for nine years as a research assistant. The biomedical research center studies how exposure to things like asbestos, wood smoke and second-hand smoke affect lung function.
Born and raised in Missoula, Gini has three degrees from the University of Montana: a bachelor’s in biology, a bachelor’s in psychology and a master’s in public health.
She is married and has a 13-year-old daughter.
In her free time, Gini likes to hike, spend time at the lake and do home-improvement projects on their “fixer-upper.”
Welcome Gini to the team at virginia.kay@redcross.org.