If it’s Wednesday, visitors to the Mid-Michigan Chapter of the American Red Cross in Lansing are greeted atthe front lobby desk by Bob Page, one of the longest-serving volunteers the chapter has ever known.
He’s dedicated 55 years to the organization and plans to keep going.
“As long as I can drive a car and get there and volunteer, I think I’ll continue,” he said, adding with a chuckle, “I just renewed my driver’s license for another five years. Whether that will materialize, I don’t know.”
Later this month, Page will celebrate his 93rd birthday.
“It’s been a great ride,” he said. “I’m much less involved than what I was for many of those years. But I’m still proud to be a volunteer at the Red Cross and to do my small thing to assist in this operation.”
A resident of Okemos, Page joined the Red Cross as a volunteer member of the chapter’s board of directors in 1970. He served as board chair from 1974-1976 and earned the distinction of serving on every board committee for the next 20 years.
He spearheaded golf fundraising events, chaired a committee that created what became known as the Great Lakes Red Cross Blood Center, a blood collection and distribution service in the Great Lakes Region, and played a vital role in the planning of a second-floor addition to the chapter building. He was also involved in the acquisition of a building that would later become a Red Cross blood and platelet donation center.
During his chairmanship the Lansing area was hit with a spring storm that dumped nearly five inches of rain and forced the evacuation of about 800 homes on April 18, 1975. Water on the Grand River and Red Cedar River crested at 15 feet and 13 feet, several feet above the flood stage.
About 200 Red Cross volunteers were involved in a disaster relief operation, staffing shelters, conducting damage assessments and providing other assistance – support the Red Cross continues to provide to this day.
“We acted as an executive committee and met frequently with the executive director Archie Williams,” he added. The passage of time has clouded his memory of other details. “It was quite a chaotic situation. I was proud of our response.”
Bob with chapter executive director Judi Harris.
Page occasionally served as a Red Cross spokesperson during the disaster and other opportunities that came up, relying on his 35 years working at the local PBS station. He started as a camera operator and worked his way up to station manager, a position he held for 19 years before retiring in the late 1990s.
In addition to his board service, Page served on a Disaster Action Team that responds to local emergencies like home fires, supported the Red Cross communications team after the earthquake in San Francisco in 1989, and donated about 72 units of blood, the equivalent of nine gallons. Chris, one of his four adult children, is a volunteer transportation specialist who transports blood products to and from Red Cross hospital partners.
While each was rewarding in their own way, the 13 years Page spent as a volunteer at the Red Cross Regional Food Bank might be his personal favorite mission moment. It was the first and only time a Red Cross chapter managed a food bank to serve people in need in seven counties in and around the Lansing area.
“It was such a different thing but it was a void that needed to be filled,” he said. “We felt we had the wherewithall to make it happen and we did . . . people had no place to go for assistance.”
Page worked four hours every Friday morning, sorting and stocking food and discarding items not edible for consumption. Food staples – produce, canned goods and packaged and frozen items – came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks.
“We had large refrigerators and large freezers,” Page said. “It had lots of support from the community. If we needed a new freezer, the community helped buy a new freezer.”
The food bank ran from 1998 to 2011 when it was taken over by the Greater Lansing Food Bank and still exists today. In a twist of irony, his daughter, Betsy, is a volunteer there.
“I think it was received very positively,” Page said of the Red Cross food bank. “It was a very good program and met a real need in the community at the time.”
That experience led Page to become a volunteer for another local organization that delivers boxes of food to elementary schools. Every two weeks, Page packs up his car with four to five boxes and makes the rounds at two schools on his route.
Last month, the chapter celebrated Page’s 55-year milestone. He is beloved by volunteers and staff who constantly remind him how valued he is.
“I cover the front desk, greet the guests, answer the phone, nothing too serious,” said Page, who has been married to his wife, Ann, for 71 years. They have six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
“I was proud to be part of what the Red Cross is all about. The staff kept encouraging me to stay involved so I stayed involved.”
By David Olejarz, regional communications director
