Red Cross volunteers Zoey King (left) and Lisa Phinney (right) point to their respective regional pins on each other at a service site on Tinian during the response to Super Typhoon Sinlaku in 2026. (Photo courtesy of Lisa Phinney and Zoey King)
By Frederic Klein
Zoey King is known on Tinian for her fiery don’ne sali, blending family traditions from the Philippines with local peppers that grow throughout the island. But beyond the kitchen, she’s built a reputation for something else: showing up when disaster strikes.
“I have my own process of making it. I learned from my mom and my mother-in-law as well, so I kind of combined what I learned,” said Zoey. “I didn’t know at first if it’s gonna work, but it did! Some people like the way I do it, but some are kinda like, it’s very hot.”
After responding locally following Super Typhoon Yutu in 2018, Zoey’s experience and confidence grew over the years. In September 2024, she found herself watching a destructive storm halfway across the world in western North Carolina — damage that was all too familiar. Traveling to North Carolina would mean leaving home, and pushing past years of social anxiety, but she saw it as a chance to give back and to continue growing. With the encouragement of her husband, Zoey soon found herself nearly 8,000 miles away — the furthest she’d ever been from home — helping people start to recover after Hurricane Helene swept their homes away, just as she saw firsthand back home in Tinian.
Red Cross volunteer meets a friendly goat while responding to help neighbors on Tinian impacted by Super Typhoon Sinlaku. (Photo courtesy of Zoey King)
After three weeks in Asheville, NC, Zoey returned home to Tinian, where she works as a school aide and raises her family. When Sinlaku struck two years later, she chose to shelter in place at home to help protect the 15 dogs under her care.
"I was laying down in our room, and out of nowhere I heard this loud bang, like something was uprooted or something and fell onto the ground. Unfortunately, it was our outside kitchen connected to our bedroom,” said Zoey. “So that’s when I found out the entire roof was gone, because water started pouring. I said, oh shoot, we lost our roof already. And then it intensifies after that.”
Water came in nonstop from all directions, and Zoey’s family frantically scooped water from their home as the storm passed through. As Zoey helped take care of her family and secured their home as best they could against weather and malintentioned passersby, she saw that her community needed help. She reached out to her mentor at the Red Cross and, a week after the storm hit, she was back volunteering to help tens of thousands of people in her community recover after the disaster.
Among the more than 600 Red Cross responders who came to help after Sinlaku was a woman who had unknowingly crossed paths with Zoey two years earlier, halfway around the world.
Lisa Phinney has always felt at home in western North Carolina, although she has lived a life that carries her to places all over the world. When Helene struck her home in Boone, NC, Lisa was volunteering with the Red Cross in New Mexico. After flying home two days earlier than originally scheduled, she jumped right back into action to help her neighbors through the disaster in her own backyard.
“My home was fine, I had a landslide below my house that took out power to well, everyone in my neighborhood,” said Lisa, who was without power for 10 days. “I stopped at my house for one day, I repacked my bag and I went and checked on the shelter in Boone and made sure they were doing okay.”
As someone who has responded to many major disasters with the Red Cross, Lisa is no stranger to meeting fellow volunteers who have helped on the same operations as her. Still, Lisa couldn’t help but smile when Zoey saw the North Carolina region on her name badge and shared that she also helped respond to Helene.
"It was really cool, I mean she’s from a small island in the middle of the Pacific and yet she went all the way to North Carolina for this opportunity to help,” said Lisa. “So she helped my area, and now coincidentally I’m here helping hers. It’s just kind of a neat full circle moment.”
Red Cross volunteer meets a friendly dog while responding to help neighbors on Tinian impacted by Super Typhoon Sinlaku. (Photo courtesy of Zoey King)
For her part, Zoey also appreciated the symmetry of the moment. From a small island in the Pacific to the mountains of North Carolina, their paths had crossed without them knowing.
"The majority of my deployments are here in the CNMI, and Guam as well. Actually, North Carolina is my first time in the U.S.,” said Zoey. “It’s good to know that another person from that region is actually returning the favor, you know? Lisa is here right now, and that’s just nice to see — another person from where I was, helping my community.”
Though Lisa is intimidated by the fiery hotness of Zoey’s donne sali, she is no stranger to spicy foods. As a fellow lover of cooking, Lisa is perhaps most proud of her buffalo chicken soup. They may trade recipes instead of disasters next time, but the bond remains strong: showing up when it matters most.
Put on a red vest and join Zoey, Lisa and all of us. Visit redcross.org/volunteer to find out how you can support your community.
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