This virtual gathering will honor heroes among us – men and women on the frontlines of the Coronavirus pandemic and beyond - exemplary individuals exhibiting extraordinary acts of courage, kindness and service.
Help us honor these unsung leaders who exemplify the humanity and volunteer service of the American Red Cross.
Proceeds from this event will benefit American Red Cross Disaster Relief, including home fires and other natural disasters.
Event hosted by: Western North Carolina Board of Directors and Executive Director, Megan Robinson.
For more event or sponsorship information, contact mariana.vimbela@redcross.org.
8:00 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.
Virtual Event | Hosted on Givesmart
Nenia Thompson is a dedicated humanitarian. For over 25 years, Nenia has partnered with the American Red Cross Biomedical Services team to host blood drives in Murphy and Andrews, North Carolina. Nenia worked with students to lead the bi-annual Murphy High School blood drive, and after retiring, has led the local bi-monthly community drive in Andrews. She puts in countless hours preparing for and recruiting donors for these rural North Carolina drives.
In a year where the American Red Cross saw hundreds of blood drive cancelled, Nenia not only continued leading the Andrews Community blood drives every 56 days, but also stepped up to run additional blood drives to replace cancelled drives. Collecting an average of 35 blood products each drive, she led the efforts to collect over 230 lifesaving units of blood in FY2020.
Deputy Sheriff Ryan Phillip Hendrix was shot and killed in Henderson County on September 10, 2020, while responding to a distress call from citizens in the community he loved and had taken an oath to protect and serve.
Ryan began his lifetime of service by joining the U.S. Marine Corps, where he proudly served our country. He attended the Police Academy at Blue Ridge Community College in Flat Rock and served with the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office for eight years, most recently as a Patrol Shift Detective and as a member of the SWAT Team. Even after completing his police academy training, he would often volunteer his time in the Academy to provide leadership and training to cadets to prepare them for a career in law enforcement.
Ryan was extremely dedicated to providing safety and security to the citizens of the community and to his two children and fiancé. Even after passing, Ryan continues to exemplify a servant’s heart. He was an organ donor and will continue, even after making the ultimate sacrifice, to serve strangers for a lifetime.
In October 2020, Colin Abray-Menendez saved a woman’s life. Colin was working as a member of the wait staff in a restaurant on Brevard Road, where a local police officer observed him leap into action as an elderly woman began choking on a piece of her lunch. Using a perfectly applied Heimlich Maneuver, he freed the lodged food from her throat.
During a time of social distancing, mandatory masks and fear of COVID-19, Colin demonstrated quick thinking and no hesitation to act and save the unknown woman from death or further treatment. Colin is commended for his rapid reaction and knowledge of the proper response to the situation at hand that day.
Suka Chapel-Horst and Kaye Lynn Hall are founders and creators of the Charles George VA Hospice’s No Veteran Dies Alone program. They both distinguished themselves immediately as volunteers filled with passion, enthusiasm, and excitement for our veterans.
Working alongside our Hospice and Palliative Care team, Suka and Kaye Lynn have developed a program and training guide to support our veterans and their families to ease their passing. Volunteers provide regularly scheduled supportive visits to veterans in our Hospice Unit and sit in bedside vigil with dying veterans. They developed an 11th hour call list and all requests for vigils have been responded to by hospice volunteers.
Both women are humble leaders who are optimistic people finding solutions in times of crisis. Work gets done at the same time new avenues of thinking are opened. They pursue the goals of their group with passion without letting their own needs or interests get in the way. Suka and Kaye Lynn have truly impacted the lives of our veteran community.
Jeremy is one of our dedicated Physician Assistants who work for Pardee Adult and Family Medicine in Laurel Park. Jeremy is also a member of the National Guard and has been deployed to the front lines to care for COVID-19 patients in Massachusetts and Texas twice during 2020. He is a husband and father of young children and was required to leave them behind during these uncertain times to serve his country.
Jeremy was also an integral part of our disaster response team when the pandemic first hit Henderson county. He assisted in setting up and working at the drive-through testing sites run by Pardee hospital. Jeremy is a dedicated healthcare provider, father, husband, and service member and we salute him.
Madison Benton has been the Chief of the Western Carolina University EMS for 3 years. He holds this leadership role as a volunteer, in addition to being a full-time student at the university. His motivation keeps him going through personal and family hardship to ensure everyone has the best care and best day possible.
Madison has an open door policy - internal and external - for the EMS agency, solidifying ties with community stakeholders through meetings, training, and lunches, and developed effective policy for members to better serve their community. He has contributed to exponential growth in morale and productivity within the community by encouraging team-building exercises and training. He has empowered community members to prepare and ready themselves for emergencies through public education Stop the Bleed, CPR, and EMS Open House events.
Madison embodies and displays these principles every day, whether it be work, or a regular person, because his purpose is to "be the change" that we wish to see in the world.
Carlos Vargas is an upstanding volunteer firefighter in Rutherford County with the Spindale Fire Department. With almost a year of firefighting under his belt at Spindale Fire Department, Carlos brings his energy and talent to go above and beyond in training for and responding to fire calls. He starter his volunteer firefighting career in 1991 in Peru, at that time the country was suffering an internal conflict and terrorist groups were trying to overthrow the democratically elected government. After that, he served in several other countries as a volunteer firefighter, then joined the Spindale Fire Department in the middle of the pandemic.
Carlos is a former International Committee of the Red Cross volunteer where he worked to support peace-keeping work. In recent years he also served as a Red Cross volunteer in Miami in both logistics and disaster assessment. He speaks multiple languages, which helps tremendously in providing translation services at emergency scenes in Rutherford County. He is currently serving as a on-demand translator for the 911 emergency center for Rutherford County.
Most recently, Carlos voluntarily jumped in his car to travel 30 minutes and provide critical interpretation services for a family whose young daughter was suffering a respiratory arrest. Thanks to his interpretation, the family could better understand the first responders and the next steps for their daughter. He has also supported police officers in translating during stressful situations.
Jimmy Brissie is the Emergency Services Director of Henderson County North Carolina. He has lived his life in service of the county and beyond. At age 15, he joined the Henderson County Rescue Squad and has served ever since. He has served as an instructor, paramedic, law enforcement lieutenant, firefighter and business owner. Lifelong service and dedication to the community is the hallmark of his career.
While these accomplishments are impressive, Jimmy should be commended for going above and beyond on the small things. The small things like taking out the trash after a large event so that the cleaning staff is not overwhelmed, or lightening the mood in a room with a joke or turn of phrase. His confident and calm leadership inspires collaboration and cooperation. From search and rescue operations to major festivals to pandemics, he is there listening and collaborating to meet community needs.
Through COVID-19, Jimmy has repeatedly shown his dedication through leadership. Henderson County was one of the first in western North Carolina to make drive-through COVID-19 testing available to the public. Special care and consideration are taken for those most vulnerable. The Latino population, homeless and long-term care facility residents being served is impressive. He not only collaborates with the health department and other emergency services agencies but also creates solutions with non-profits and other community organizations.
Keevon, Catherine, and Ellenore are young professionals in Asheville who know the importance of serving others. In 2019, they connected to form Rotaract Asheville, an affiliate of Rotary International, which brings together young leaders to develop innovative solutions to our world’s most pressing problems.
Keevon, Catherine, and Ellenore work to help members develop leadership and professional skills, while also engaging in community service in ways that are fun and deeply fulfilling. Since founding Rotaract AVL, they have supported Asheville and Buncombe County through service to others including: Eliada Homes renovation of an old barn into classroom space; RiverLink cleanup of Town Branch Creek; American Red Cross blood drive; MANNA food drive; garden cleanup for Verner Center for Early Learning; volunteer work to refurbish the Nature Play Space at the WNC Nature Center; waterfall cleanup with Waterfall Keepers of NC; and establishing international partnership with the Bogota Rotaract Club in Columbia. Together they are teaching English to children in Bogota through "Zoom classrooms" as well as creating international bonds and cultural exchange.
Most importantly, they are inspiring other young professionals to roll up their sleeves and volunteer within our community.
