By: Ray Lapine/American Red Cross Volunteer

It didn't take long for Rachel Rosenbaum to make an impact as a Red Cross volunteer. Samantha Sanchey, the Community Disaster Program Manager for the American Red Cross Central and Southeastern Washington chapter says people there have been “awed” by Rachel's drive to contribute to the Red Cross mission.

Rachel signed up to volunteer with the Red Cross in the fall of 2024. She completed 17 hours of Disaster Action Team training in a matter of days and completed two intakes in her first week as a disaster responder.

She didn't stop there. Around that time, Hurricane Helene struck the southeastern United States and Rachel wanted to help with relief efforts. That meant taking more hours of training to qualify for a Red Cross deployment. She wound up at a Red Cross distribution point for relief supplies in Asheville, North Carolina, one of the places hardest hit by the storm.

Her group provided the basics to help people get through daily life. Red Cross logistics teams monitored what was in demand and tried to distribute those items where they were most needed.

“You know, even if it was just a blanket or some water or sleeping bag, some after school snacks for the kids, I mean every little bit was appreciated,” Rachel says.

It's no surprise that Rachel's drive to contribute to the Red Cross mission continued after she arrived in Asheville. A couple of days into her deployment she received a field promotion to supervisor of the team that was distributing those supplies.

She says her job as a supervisor included making sure the team was supported, had what they needed, were able to collaborate well and ultimately be able to deliver services to those impacted by the disaster.

Although she hadn't been with the Red Cross very long, Rachel’s long-time interest in Emergency Management lead her to this point. Some twenty years ago she was part of AmeriCorps and volunteered with Emergency Management in Benton County. She is now a full-time student, studying for a degree in Emergency Management.

Red Cross volunteers on deployment get time off from their assignments to rest and regroup. Rachel devoted some of that time to take a look at the hurricane damage that brought her to North Carolina. She took lots of pictures and videos of what she saw and posted them on social media.

What was her impression of how people were coping with it all?

“I think there was a different variety. I mean some were coping better than others. We had people who showed up and just now saw that their whole area was just taken away. It was just wiped out and so they were in the first initial phases of recovery. It was heartbreaking. It gives you a different perspective,” she said. “Everyone’s going through something different, and you just try to understand, and be compassionate.”

Drawn together by the intense work, Rachel says her team became a family.

“They were fabulous,” she said.

Would she recommend taking on a national deployment to other volunteers?

“Absolutely. Jump in and do it. Just do what you can do, and do the best job you can,” she said. “I mean, you never know what you're going to get until you try.”