By: Carl Manning, American Red Cross

American Red Cross Regional Philanthropy Officer Jane Schumacher regularly talks to scores of corporations and individuals, urging them to support disaster response, and explaining how the donor dollar is vital to helping those in need.

Soon after Jane became a philanthropy officer in November, 2021, she wanted to learn more about what the Red Cross actually does to help others and began tagging along with Disaster Action Team (DAT) volunteers responding to home fires.

At first, she saw it as an opportunity to gather material for stories to tell donors, but found that it spoke to her heart as well.

“I learn better by doing, and now I have so many stories to share with donors. I hope to make them feel like they were there, experiencing what I felt when I was helping those people,” Jane said.

She quickly realized that, even more importantly, it gave her the chance to really help others during one of the worst times of their lives.

“I became a DAT volunteer because it filled my need,” she said. “I wanted to be someone who helped others. And, once you do it, you want to do it over and over again because there is a need and I want to be there to help.”

A story that stays with her is how she helped ten families displaced by an apartment building fire in the Kansas City area.  

She walked into the room where the families had gathered and the parents looked lost, the children were tired, cranky and scared. Without hesitation, Jane went to her vehicle and grabbed an armload of Build-A-Bears to hand out to the children.

“Their faces lit up. Those smiles, the way they hugged the bears, was indescribable,” she said. “There was a calmness that went through the room.”

“Before we said a word, they knew we were there to help,” she said.

The American Red Cross is always in need for more Disaster Action Team volunteers. To sign up to volunteer, visit www.redcross.org/volunteer