When David and Ann Loveless of Petal, Miss., discovered they could do what they love most in life while also fulfilling their passion to help people, joining the American Red Cross was a natural decision.

     The couple began volunteering for the nonprofit organization that exists to provide compassionate care to those in need when they retired nearly 20 years ago. And they are still helping today. 
     “We love it,” Ann said. “It gives us a place we can go where we truly feel like we’re making a difference in the world.” 
     Over the years, the Lovelesses have assisted the American Red Cross in various roles within its five service areas, which include disaster relief, lifesaving blood donations, training and certification, international, and military families. 
     They began their journey in 2004 with the organization’s Southeast Mississippi Chapter serving 28 counties including those along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. They were deployed that summer to assist certified emergency responders in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan that struck the Gulf States as a strong Category 3 storm. 
     Ann recalls the couple worked on the back of an Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) helping certified drivers distribute food and other supplies to storm victims. 
     It was a job the couple would later lead in volunteer service to the organization after receiving specialized training to become certified ERV drivers themselves. 
     “It is an incredible experience; just knowing that you are helping someone and realizing that every job, big or small, is an important part of the process,” said Ann. 
     The Lovelesses are also certified ERV instructors for the American Red Cross. And they have performed numerous damage assessments during which volunteers are tasked with travelling to disaster-affected areas and surveying the level of damage to property as well as the amount and extent of support the organization can provide. 

     Today, David and Ann, both age 79, no longer participate in deployment missions with the American Red Cross. Instead, they donate their time to the organization’s volunteer recruitment teams, working from home in a virtual capacity to help recruit the next wave of American Red Cross volunteers by sharing their knowledge and expertise in the field. 
     The Lovelesses have completed a total of 40 volunteer deployment missions with the American Red Cross, helping provide disaster relief and assistance to victims claimed by disasters across the country including Hurricane Katrina, the California wildfires, and many more. 
      Their work with the American Red Cross has afforded them experiences and opportunities they never could have imagined. 
     “I remember when we were getting ready to retire, we were trying to decide what we were going to do,” Ann said. “We’ve never been the kind of people to just sit back and watch others in action knowing there so many people out there who need help. We like to be out there with them, hands on.”
“…One day we were listening to the news and we saw American Red Cross volunteers loading up food trucks and we thought to ourselves, we can do that. And, so, we did it.  It’s something special that we’ve had the chance to be a part of. It has allowed us to travel and be flexible and help people all at the same time…Best decision we ever made.”

     The Southeast Mississippi Chapter of the American Red Cross maintains a level of about 400 trained and dedicated volunteers who also staff offices in Pascagoula, Hattiesburg, Laurel, Meridian, and the chapter’s headquarters located at 612 E. Pass Road in Gulfport.
According to the chapter’s executive director, John McFarland, the need for volunteers is a mainstay for the organization.
     “We always need more volunteers and are always recruiting and training new volunteers to replace those who retire, move, or need to take some time away from the Red Cross, especially after the last couple of years which have been extremely busy with disasters in Mississippi and out of state to which these volunteers have been deployed for two-week shifts at a time,” McFarland said.
     Chapter volunteers, according to McFarland, log more than 30,000 volunteer hours each year, providing relief to victims of disasters ranging from single-family fires to floods, tornadoes, and multi-state hurricanes; collecting thousands of units of blood for area hospitals; helping businesses, communities and individuals prepare for emergencies; installing free smoke alarms in homes without any; and teaching lifesaving first aid, CPR, and water safety classes. 
     As a military veteran, McFarland said he is particularly proud of the work of the chapter’s Services to the Armed Forces team who provided more than 2,500 services to more than 1,100 military service members and their families in Southeast Mississippi last year alone.
     After college graduation, McFarland was commissioned into the U.S. Army and worked as a liaison with the American Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Services. He later joined the organization’s Southeast Mississippi Chapter and was initially trained as a volunteer shelter worker.
     His father too had been a longtime Red Cross volunteer.
     McFarland began his job as chapter executive director in April 2015, after 40 years as an American Red Cross volunteer while employed at The Sun Herald.
     From 1992 through 1998, McFarland was a member of the Mississippi Red Cross Service Council, a 13- member board of executive directors and volunteers elected to coordinate Red Cross resources in the state, help build capacity of local chapters, and coordinate with state and federal agencies and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. 
     As chair of that council from 1995 to 1998, McFarland had the opportunity to visit chapters across the state to meet and work with their volunteers. He also met with volunteer service council chairs from around the country at annual meetings with then Red Cross CEO Elizabeth Dole
     “It was very inspirational to see the diversity and dedication of our volunteers across the state and the nation and see the great services being tailored to specific needs in local communities,” McFarland said.
     According to McFarland, while the American Red Cross mission to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies never changes, the way the organization operates does change as it has had to make use of the latest technologies and respond to new challenges like COVID-19 as well as shortages of different types of blood. 
     “Our disaster teams, for example, have just shifted to a new platform called RC Care, which expedites payment of emergency financial assistance,” McFarland said.  “Many of our training and preparedness classes have been moved to virtual presentations through ZOOM, Skype and Microsoft Teams to be able to continue the presentations while COVID has limited the opportunities for in-person meetings and the size of in-person classes.”
     The virtual platform has made it harder to recruit volunteers. The Southeast Mississippi Chapter’s offices are currently closed to the public with volunteers manning phone lines, and its Open House for potential volunteers that normally takes place on the last Friday of each month hasn’t been held since February 2020.
     McFarland said having to place disaster victims directly into separate hotels instead of public buildings or shelters is another challenge the organization has faced resulting from COVID-19. The new protocol has made donations to the organization from communities across the country increasingly crucial.
     In 2020, the American Red Cross incurred an additional $200 million in COVID-related expenses to cover costs of providing disaster victims and its more than 300,000 volunteers and 19,000 full-time employees nationwide with sanitization and protective equipment such as masks and gloves.
     Over 90 cents of every dollar donated to the organization goes to support its mission and operation that is sustained solely by volunteers, partners and the generosity of donors.
     The Southeast Mississippi Chapter’s largest annual fundraiser, dubbed the Moonlight and Magnolia Gala and typically held in August at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions.
     Numerous blood drives have also been canceled, creating a shortage in blood collections for the organization across the globe, McFarland said.
     For the Southeast Mississippi Chapter, annual blood donations dropped by approximately half in 2020, with only 4,010 units of its typical 8,000-9,000 units of blood received from July-December.
     A unit of blood, measured at approximately one pint, is used about five days after it is collected and can save up to three lives using its red blood cells, plasma and platelets.
Blood donations during the COVID-19 pandemic is crucial as the plasma from blood donors who have already been infected with the virus possess the important antibodies that aid in helping COVID patients’ immune systems produce the necessary proteins to fight the deadly virus and recover. 
     McFarland said the organization is also pushing to increase blood collections from African American donors as they carry a unique blood type that carries vital components to help sickle cell anemia patients.
     Blood donations can be made by appointment and completed in 20 minutes or less. Just visit www.redcrossblood.org and enter your zip code for a complete list of blood drive locations. An American Red Cross Mobile App is also available and can be downloaded for free using a computer and/or mobile device.
     Every year, the American Red Cross responds to between 60,000 and 70,000 individual disasters caused by hurricanes, explosions, and riots.
     The organization’s most common annual emergency is single- and multi-family fires, responding to an average of 12,000 home fires per year. It’s the primary reason why in 2014 the organization partnered with fire departments across the country to start its Home Fire Safety program, which includes providing fire safety information, building family evacuation plans, checking existing smoke alarms or replacing them, and installing free lithium battery alarms in homes without them.
     COVID has required a halt in volunteers participating in the door-to-door neighborhood canvasses and alarm installations as part of the program. Since February 2020, those have been performed by appointment only. And the information portion of the program has moved temporarily to virtual presentations.
     With the Southeast Mississippi Chapter having responded to 600 house fires in 2020, an average of two per day, McFarland said the organization is eager to “get back to the neighborhood canvasses and alarm installations this year as soon as COVID restrictions will allow.” He also reminds citizens who are interested in volunteering for the organization without making a long-term commitment, that the Home Fire Safety program may be a perfect opportunity for them as training can be completed in just 30 minutes and would only require volunteering for as little as one day in the field. 
     McFarland said while joining the American Red Cross “is not for everyone,” the organization offers something for everyone no matter where their humanitarian interests may lie.
     “Whatever your interest, there is a job for you,” said McFarland.  “Understand that we will spend time and money training and supporting you and will expect you to answer the call when needed. But it will be the most rewarding work you’ll ever do.”
     Martha Duvall, volunteer recruitment specialist for the American Red Cross Alabama Mississippi Region, said there are currently several hundred volunteer positions available within every line of service that are listed as high priority needs along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and beyond.
     Some of those positions include a Blood Donor Ambassador for Harrison County, and Disaster Action Team (DAT) volunteers. There is a variety of virtual positions available as well for those who prefer to work remotely.  
     Duvall said a great resource for learning more about these opportunities and more is the Gulf Coast HUB for Volunteers & Nonprofits, a program of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation that operates within the Mississippi HUB Network to help nonprofit organizations recruit and recognize valuable volunteers and rally local communities around important initiatives.
     “I highly recommend the HUB,” Duvall said. “It is a clearinghouse for local nonprofit and volunteer opportunities across the spectrum. Anyone would be able to connect with their preferred area of interest through the HUB.”
     Visit the Gulf Coast HUB for Volunteers & Nonprofits Web site at www.gulfcoasthub.org.
     A list of volunteer opportunities, blood drives and additional information about the organization and how to start the process to becoming an American Red Cross volunteer can also be found at www.redcross.org. The Web site also has information for those interested in making monetary donations, which are also accepted via U.S. Postal Service mail or by calling 1-800-Red-Cross.
     The local Gulfport office for the American Red Cross can be reached at 228-896-4511. Prospective volunteers can also feel free to call Martha Duvall at 228-369-9886.

Amanda Compton-Ortiz

Amanda Compton-Ortiz holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism from the University of Mississippi. She relocated from North Mississippi to Long Beach in October 2016. Amanda has worked for more than 20 years in journalism, leading and reporting for various community news publications throughout the state. She has received numerous awards for her editorial contributions from the Mississippi Press Association and placed among 224 universities competing across the United States and Canada for Reach, a personally created magazine for women.