Kent Norton leads a busy life. Kent and his wife have nine children, 31 grandchildren, and recently added their first great-grandchild to the family. In his free time, Kent enjoys traveling, exercising and skiing. He also volunteers with the Red Cross at Fort Knox, KY.

Originally from Utah, Kent and his wife arrived at Fort Knox on an 18-month service mission through their church. Their goal: Serve the military families on Fort Knox however they could. Before he arrived, he and his wife had video conferences with Red Cross volunteers on post about the opportunities available to help military families. When they arrived, they sought out Amy Grimm, one of the Red Cross volunteers at the Red Cross Warrior Warehouse.

“We'd only been here two or three days when we found Amy and introduced ourselves and asked, ‘what can we do to be helpful’?” said Kent. “[She] gave us a big bear hug and said, ‘come in, boy have I got a place for you!’”

Now, Kent stays busy volunteering in a variety of roles on Fort Knox. Along with his wife, he’s an adult advisor for the Red Cross Junior Service Club on post, volunteers at the Helping Hands Warrior Warehouse and helps as a communications volunteer by recording videos and taking photos of events that happen at Fort Knox.

Volunteering at Fort Knox is close to Kent’s heart. He trained as a lawyer and came close to serving in the JAG Corps but was ultimately unable to serve in the military himself. He views volunteering at Fort Knox as an opportunity to serve both his church and his country.

“I feel like I'm making some contribution to the military by way of the volunteer hours that my wife and I provide for the American Red Cross, because there's a direct connection between the two,” said Kent. “The volunteer services that are provided by the Red Cross just make it a little easier for these military families to do what they do and to sacrifice what they sacrifice and to be ready at all times for the call to arms for our country.”

As an advisor for the Red Cross Junior Service Club, he helps youth volunteers in the club with service projects and initiatives they’re working on.

“They get the possibility of going to Washington, DC in connection with Red Cross Summit,” said Kent.
“And they get great public speaking training in connection with the video presentation they put together for International Humanitarian Law.”

As part of the services offered by the Warrior Warehouse, Kent and his wife also help coach people who are transitioning out of the Army on how to dress as they shift back into civilian life. The Warrior Warehouse supports service members on Fort Knox through a variety of programs, including providing clothing, household items, baby items, toys, and other necessities based on financial need.

“They might have job interviews, they might have meetings of various kinds, and they don't have appropriate business apparel for that,” said Kent. That’s where Kent and other volunteers come in. Through donations from the community, the volunteers provide transitioning military members with business attire for civilian life. 

“They've been in uniform for years,” said Kent. “They can come here and we can outfit them with nice dresses and jackets for the women, nice suits, sport coats, […] even shoes and belts in some cases for the men. We have a wide selection because donations come from everywhere. And soldiers and their families can come and get what they need for the next chapter of their lives at no charge.”

Red Cross volunteers with the program make appointments with soldiers to guide them through picking out business attire. Kent shared he has met with someone about once a week since he began volunteering. The difference he’s seen the program make in the lives of soldiers and their families is profound: “I've seen people go out of here with tears in their eyes saying there's no way I could have had this, you know, on my own resources, without the help of the Red Cross.”

Kent and his wife have been volunteering since February 2025 and will stay in their roles until their service mission ends in August 2026. They consider it a privilege to be able to give back to the military through the roles they have with the Red Cross.

“Everything we can do for them by way of our service to the Red Cross, to just make life a little better and a little easier – it’s a privilege and a pleasure,” said Kent. “I've lost track of the number of families who have said ‘I just don't know what we would do without the resources that are made available to us through the various Red Cross programs’.”

Kent also shares the gratitude flows both ways.

“It's not just the military folks saying thank you to the Red Cross,” said Kent. “I see it in the eyes and hear it in the voices of the Red Cross volunteers saying thank you to them, for the opportunity for us to serve you and support you.”

Kent believes volunteering impacts your heart and opens up your perspective of the world we all live in, in ways that learning or watching from afar can’t do.

“I just have huge respect for the American Red Cross,” said Kent. “Here at Fort Knox, I've been able to see up close and personal the difference they can make in military lives in terms of all the programs the Red Cross operates here that we volunteer for. I absolutely know it is making a difference.”

He encourages everyone to give volunteering a try, whether that is by volunteering with our Services to the Armed Forces, helping support blood drives or responding to help after a disaster like a home fire or flood: “This will change you as a person. When we give of ourselves, when we forget ourselves in service to someone else, it makes us bigger, it makes us feel better about ourselves, and it helps us to appreciate what other people are doing and sacrificing.”

Our work would not be possible without volunteers like Kent. Learn more about becoming a Red Cross volunteer at redcross.org/volunteertoday