By Tana Kelley, Northwest Region

For MaryKate Hamilton, volunteering with the American Red Cross was never just something she hoped to do someday. It was a promise she made decades ago after the organization came to her family's rescue, not once, but twice.

"I always said, whenever I get the chance, I'm going to work at the Red Cross," Hamilton said.

That promise began in the early 1970s while Hamilton was living overseas with her husband and infant son.

The family had relocated to Malaysia for her husband's job, but shortly after arriving, everything unraveled. The company employing her husband stopped paying its workers, leaving the family without income for four months.

"We were living very poor," Hamilton recalled.

With no car, no phone and little money, the family was already struggling when tragedy struck.

Her 5-month-old son crawled into the kitchen just as a pot of boiling water tipped off the stove, severely burning him.

"I had no money and no way to get help," she said.

Desperate, Hamilton carried her son to the U.S. Embassy. Embassy staff contacted her mother in Spokane, who worked with the American Red Cross to assemble emergency medical supplies. Ointment, bandages and other essentials were shipped across the world, giving Hamilton the resources she needed to care for her son.

"I couldn't believe that could actually happen," she said. "I knew nothing about the Red Cross at the time. I didn't even know the package was coming. I was just so grateful."

Just months later, another emergency put the family to the test.

Now living in Singapore, Hamilton’s 11-month-old son suffered a devastating fall that fractured his skull. Doctors determined he needed emergency surgery, but hospital policy required his father's consent before they could proceed.

There was just one problem.

Her husband was working as a helicopter pilot supporting oil rigs deep in the Indonesian jungle.

"I wasn't able to tell them where he was," Hamilton said.

The Red Cross found him anyway.

"They went out and got him and brought him back," she said. "I didn't know they could even do that. It was pretty amazing."

Her son received the surgery he needed, and the two extraordinary acts of compassion stayed with Hamilton throughout her life.

Before moving overseas, Hamilton worked as a pediatric nurse. Later, she became an office manager for Spokane Public Schools. But she never forgot the organization that had helped her family when they had nowhere else to turn.

The day after she retired, she applied to become a Red Cross volunteer.

It took several months before a position became available, but Hamilton was eager to begin. She joined the Disaster Action Team, responding to families affected by home fires and other emergencies. Over the years, she has taken on a variety of volunteer roles, including disaster feeding operations, kitchen support and disaster relief deployments across the country.

Her deployments have taken her to Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and New York, helping communities recover after disasters.

Today, Hamilton serves as a card controller, a volunteer position responsible for managing, tracking, and auditing financial assistance cards.

For Hamilton, every role shares the same purpose.

"It gives you a purpose," she said. "Helping people—you get more from them than I can ever give to them."

Just as meaningful, she says, are the people she serves alongside.

"The people are fabulous to work with," she said. "They always make you feel appreciated and supported."

That encouragement is one reason she believes volunteering with the Red Cross can become a lifelong journey.

"There are so many areas you can work in," she said. "If you want to try something else, they'll help you find your best fit. They give you lots of opportunities, and it's rewarding to help people who really need it."

More than 50 years after the Red Cross first stepped in to help her family, Hamilton is now the one answering the call for others.

For her, volunteering isn't simply about giving back.

It's about keeping a promise made during one of the most difficult moments of her life.