Every eight minutes, the Red Cross responds to a disaster to offer care, comfort, financial support and relief. But we don’t show up in a community after a disaster – we’re already here. As you’ll see on this page, the Red Cross touches lives in each city and town in South Carolina. We are your neighbors, your teachers, your students, your friends and maybe even your family. Explore some of what we’ve done recently – and if you’d like to make the Red Cross mission even stronger, please consider making a financial or blood donation or joining us as a volunteer. Interested in getting involved? Click here to learn more about how you can help.
In 2023, Red Cross of South Carolina Disaster Action Team (DAT) volunteers responded to more than 1,700 disasters across the state, assisting nearly 5,000 South Carolinians. Most of those disasters were home fires. The Red Cross of South Carolina responds to an average of six home fires every day, and Red Cross DAT responders are often the first on the ground to assist people by providing blankets, snacks, water, financial assistance, mental health counseling, and other much-needed resources.
These community heroes are trained and ready to respond emergencies, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
“I retired in 2017 and I wanted to do something meaningful,” said Melinda Higgs, of Columbia, SC. “I looked at opportunities with the Red Cross, and one came up in the Columbia office and I met with the volunteer recruiter.”
A former human resource professional, Melinda began her Red Cross volunteer career helping with HR and administrative activities. Later she became a Blood Donor Ambassador, greeting donors as they entered the donor center and making them feel appreciated. Now, Melinda shares her passion for the Red Cross onboarding and training new donor ambassadors.
Every day, the timely delivery of blood and blood products means the difference between life and death for patients in need. In fact, every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood—a person giving birth, a neighbor receiving cancer treatment, and countless other conditions. To meet this constant demand, the American Red Cross must collect about 12,500 units every day, and our community emergency vehicles are essential to this lifesaving work.
Roger Chaddick, a retiree from Irmo, SC, is one of the dedicated volunteers who helps ensure blood products are delivered to hospitals caring for patients in need.
“I used to teach Red Cross lifeguarding, swim lessons, all that good stuff. One day, I thought to myself, ‘This disaster stuff looks interesting,’ and in 2004, Florida was getting hammered by hurricanes, so I went to my local chapter and signed up,” Clyde Roberts of Columbia, SC, describes how he first became a Red Cross volunteer.
The next year, Clyde deployed to New Orleans ahead of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall.
“I spent six months in the Orleans Parish emergency operations center and discovered that I had found my niche in life.”
Terry Hevener was a nurse for over 40 years across the Southeast. After retirement, she knew that she had skills that her community could benefit from, so she decided to volunteer with the American Red Cross. Now, Terry is a Disaster Health Services R.N. with the Red Cross and has deployed three times just in the past year.
"I had a skill set that I thought the community could use. As a nurse in a hospital, we're always kind of rushed. At the Red Cross, I've got time to spend with people impacted by disasters and it's just fulfilling to me,” said Terry. “I think the the people we serve appreciate it, too. I tell them, we're in this together.”
Janice Oden, of Sumter, SC, is an American Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) volunteer with over 15 years of service. As a military spouse, her first introduction to the SAF and the importance of Red Cross services was due to the death of a loved one. Janice's mother-in-law passed away while she and her husband were stationed in Germany with the U.S. Air Force in the 1980s. For them to return to the United States for the funeral, Janice's mother submitted a case with a Red Cross SAF case worker. This process ensured they were allowed time to grieve with their family members, which inspired her to begin her journey as a SAF volunteer.
"I decided to become a Red Cross volunteer because I really wanted to give back to the community," said Versie Page, an American Red Cross volunteer from Sellers, SC. "I've seen how traumatic it can be when someone experiences a home fire, and I wanted to be the person who jumps in and lets them know that relief is on the way."
Versie is a member of the Eastern SC Chapter Disaster Action Team (DAT), assisting families in the aftermath of local disasters, most of which are home fires. Every day, the Red Cross of South Carolina responds to an average of six home fires. Trained DAT volunteers, like Versie, are ready to respond to these emergencies 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
When I was asked to interview Kathleen Gibson, the 2023 American Red Cross Volunteer of the Year, I thought the assignment would be pretty straightforward. Well, it was anything but. You need to put your track shoes on to catch up with Kathleen Gibson: an extremely active woman who serves her community in a number of capacities, but her heart belongs to the American Red Cross.
“I love, love, love to help people," said Kathleen, who has been a Red Cross volunteer since 2015. Kathleen reminisces about how it all started during “The Big Flood” in South Carolina that year.
