When Patrick and Lori Loney of Wichita retired, they turned to the American Red Cross to fill their empty hours, little did they know that they would be regarded as the Volunteer Ambassadors for their local chapter.
There is always a need for the Disaster Action Team members and Blood Services drivers.
The Loneys have been married for 43 years and are volunteers for the South Central and Southeast Kansas chapter. When they retired from Spirit Aerosystems in Wichita in 2019, the couple decided to answer the call. At first, they worked as DAT volunteers in sheltering. However, as time passed, their roles expanded.
“When we first signed up, we signed up under Disaster Services because we saw a Facebook post that they were needing volunteers for sheltering,” Lori Loney said. However, after a while, she says the couple felt like they were not busy enough, so they began to search around and heard through one of their church members about Blood Services drivers. That’s now a part of their weekly routine.
One of the disasters the couple was deployed to was Hurricane Ian. The storm, the deadliest hurricane to strike the state of Florida in more than 80 years, hit the southeastern United States in late September. The Florida Medical Examiners Commission reported 146 storm deaths in Florida, alone, with an estimated $113 billion in property damage.
“We were working out of a town called Cape Coral, which is a suburb of Fort Myers,” Pat Loney said. “And we did feeding out of the ERV (Emergency Response Vehicle). We drove one of the ERVs from Wichita. Initially, when they started getting ready to deploy everybody, they sent us to Orlando because they thought the hurricane was going to track differently.
“We were working out of a town called Cape Coral, which is a suburb of Fort Myers,” Pat Loney said. “And we did feeding out of the ERV (Emergency Response Vehicle). We drove one of the ERVs from Wichita. Initially, when they started getting ready to deploy everybody, they sent us to Orlando because they thought the hurricane was going to track differently.
“We were working out of a town called Cape Coral, which is a suburb of Fort Myers,” Pat Loney said. “And we did feeding out of the ERV (Emergency Response Vehicle). We drove one of the ERVs from Wichita. Initially, when they started getting ready to deploy everybody, they sent us to Orlando because they thought the hurricane was going to track differently.
Because of their willingness to serve and their flexibility when it comes to job assignments, the couple have often been referred to as the chapter’s Volunteer Ambassadors – a title they wear with pride.
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.
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