By: Gordon Williams, Northwest Region Volunteer

Some volunteers support the Red Cross by responding to disasters – at home and far away.  Some support the Red Cross by helping members of the military in times of crisis. And some show their support by serving as directors of Red Cross chapters – cementing ties between the Red Cross and the corporate partners that support it.

PEMCO, a Seattle-based property-casualty insurance company, is one such corporate partner. Ties between the two go back more than 40 years, and today, the company provides financial and material support to the Red Cross. Additionally, it employees devote their time and talent to volunteering at Red Cross events, and beyond that, two PEMCO leaders serve on their local Red Cross chapter’s board of directors. 

Albery Lockhart sits on the board of the Greater Inland Northwest Chapter in Spokane, and Phil Cole sits on the board of the King County chapter in Seattle.  Cole is a newly chosen Red Cross board member while Lockhart has served on his board for some years. 

Both represent PEMCO and the community at board meetings. Lockhart, with more years on the board, has worked on such Red Cross events as Sound the Alarm – the annual push to save lives by installing smoke alarms in homes that lack them.  

Recently Lockhart and Cole were asked to share their thoughts and experiences in serving with the Red Cross. What they had to say illustrates the depth of the partnership and the positive feelings that helping the Red Cross carry out its humanitarian mission creates.

Lockhart says that he and his family were Red Cross volunteers before he joined the board. Along the way, he says, he met board members who spoke of the deep satisfaction they felt in serving the Red Cross.

“I felt compelled to join the board to help where I could and to build on the great connection that PEMCO has with the Red Cross,” Lockhart said.

Beyond giving back to the community by serving the Red Cross, Lockhart says he is also able to serve as an example for his two daughters.

“I’m able to show them that the world is bigger than our home, and there are people who are in need of help,” he said.

While Cole is a newcomer to the King County board, he is quickly fitting in. Already he is quite clear about how PEMCO can aid the Red Cross – and how the Red Cross can aid PEMCO.

“As a newer board member, I’ll be looking for opportunities to engage PEMCO volunteers and my own team members for team building opportunities,” he said.

Cole offers his thoughts on why PEMCO and the Red Cross fit together as well as they do.

“Both PEMCO and the Red Cross respond to times of individual crisis,” he said. “Their mission is to prevent and alleviate human suffering during emergencies. It’s only natural that we would support the Red Cross.”

That support has been wide-ranging over the years. PEMCO contributes money to the Red Cross and encourages its employees to do the same. Many of the Red Cross emergency vehicles have come from PEMCO. Additionally, PEMCO employees have worked at countless Red Cross events.

When asked what he has gained from his time on the board, Lockhart says he has been able to strengthen his skills and abilities to work with large groups of individuals with different ideas and backgrounds.

“Being able to help guide the group and facilitate the large discussions has been a good learning experience,” Lockhart said.

Cole says he has already learned a great deal about the Red Cross in his short time on the board.

“As I learn more about the Red Cross, I am amazed by how they are so quick to respond to life-impacting events,” he said. “The logistics of mobilizing a team of volunteers is impressive.”

Cole says he was particularly impressed by the Red Cross “onboarding” process. That is the process by which the Red Cross takes untrained volunteers and quickly turns them into trained responders. Around 90 percent of Red Cross workers are volunteers, which makes onboarding critical for the Red Cross. Cole says he can confirm that Red Cross onboarding works as it should.

“The onboarding process has been very thorough,” he said.

When asked what serving as a Red Cross board member can involve, Cole says it’s a commitment, “You’re committing your time to assist an organization with carrying out their mission, with a goal of making them better and learning something new along the way.”

Lockhart expanded on the lessons his daughters have learned from his Red Cross service, recalling the day when he and his older daughter were installing smoke alarms for the Red Cross in a low-income neighborhood, “After a full six hours of this, my daughter looked at me and told me she never knew how fortunate we were and how much she liked helping others. It was a proud parent moment and another reason that I enjoy being a volunteer and a member of the board.”