What would you do? You’re home alone watching TV in the living room when you hear a window break at the back of the house and then footsteps. Or you just lost a loved one and want the comfort of knowing someone could be there for you at a moment’s notice if you had a medical emergency. Or maybe you want to give your mom and dad the independence of living in their own home, but ensure their safety at the same time.

March 26, 1941. Women across the nation were knitting children’s suits, toddler clothing, men’s uniforms, and gloves and sweaters for the soldiers in World War II. One woman from St. Louis donated several of the original directions given to the knitters between 1939 and 1945. She even wrote a short letter about how she, her mom and two other ladies knitted toddler sets during the “Knitting for Britain” campaign in 1939 and 1940.

After rushing around every weekend this month to find presents for my family and friends, I took a few hours this weekend to volunteer with my fellow Red Crossers at Jefferson Barracks VA Hospital.  We passed out stockings with word puzzles, socks, small toiletries and “canteen books” (money to buy snacks inside the hospital).  It wasn’t much – but it meant the world to these guys.

It’s official. We have less than a week left before the holidays begin and if you haven’t found your holiday spirit yet –I hate to point out the obvious- but you are running out of time. So whether you have gifts to buy, cookies to bake, or frigid temperatures to brave, I’ve discovered the perfect remedy to accompany any last minute holiday preparations. And as an added bonus- the discovery of your holiday spirit yields a donation to the American Red Cross.

A few weeks ago, I had one of the most fulfilling and memorable experiences of my life. I went with a group of Red Cross staff and volunteers to deliver gifts to veterans at John Cochran Veterans Hospital. Giving these individuals who served our country a small gift was extremely rewarding. Their faces lit up as they received their gifts.  Everyone was so appreciative and thanked us sincerely.  I can only hope for the same experience as we prepare to deliver holiday gifts to both John Cochran and Jefferson Barracks veteran hospitals next week. Hopefully we will bring a smile to their faces all over again.

This week has been quite eventful. Part of what Red Cross is chartered to do is services to the armed forces. So for the holiday season the Red Cross Americorps NPRC members at other disaster staff have put together gifts for veterans at John Cochran and Jefferson Barracks. The gifts included fleece blankets, stockings stuffed with coupon books for the hospital canteen, puzzle books, among other items. After putting everything together Danae’, the other Americorps NPRC member, other volunteers and I took the blankets and will be taking the stockings tomorrow to pass out to the veterans. It’s great to give a little to men and women who have given so much.

Now that we have Thanksgiving under our belts- loosened belts, for that matter- the Holiday season is fully underway. While that means, trees and cookies, family traditions, and friends, it also means shopping. And in my family, shopping has become quite the tradition of its own.

As another night shift with the Red Cross Disaster Action Team comes to a close, my team is happy we had an uneventful evening. This means there were no fires to respond to in the Greater St. Louis area. Quiet nights like this are few and far between during the winter months. But one thing that did surprise us was the number of carbon monoxide detectors going off (I stopped counting these alarms after the 10th). Now that the nights are growing colder, more people are starting up their furnaces and detectors are picking up on CO leaks. Let this be a reminder to all of us to take the time to check the batteries in our carbon monoxide detectors as well as our smoke detectors.

Last week I watched a documentary called Kamp Katrina, directed by Ashley Sabin and David Redmon. The film is a gritty, raw, and painfully realistic look at the months following Hurricane Katrina and her devastating wrath. The story is told through the eyes of Ms. Pearl, an eccentric, yet compassionate local who opens her backyard to a dozen strangers left homeless by the storm. Together Ms. Pearl and the survivors establish a tent community that they dub “Kamp Katrina.” Focusing primarily on the residents and their self-destructive habits, we are invited into the community’s post-Katrina lifestyle. And with substance abuse, violence, unfair politics, and little visible assistance, it’s not necessarily someplace we want to be.

Another exciting week in St. Louis has flown by.  This past week has made me realize even more what a great privilege it is to be working with the Red Cross as the AmeriCorps preparedness member. It really opened my eyes as to how much the Red Cross affects people. One of my special projects this week was to purchase items to fill gift bags for 120 veterans that reside at our local veterans hospitals.

As summer fell into the crisp days of autumn, and our clocks fell back an hour, I found myself falling into a long overdue list of chores last week. My first job - cleaning the basement. What seemed like a daunting task turned out pleasantly after rediscovering my old childhood book collection. There were Boxcar Kids and Bernstein Bears, nursery rhymes, and my personal favorite, the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books. I loved those! In the books, everything was a chain reaction created by you. When you got to the end of a section you had a choice to make- either jump to a new page or continue reading- and you made selections all the way until you had chosen your own ending. They were practically different stories every time you opened the book.

As Red Cross AmeriCorps National Preparedness and Response Corp members, Danae and I have the opportunity to work on service projects with other non-profit organizations in St. Louis area. This week we are setting up dates to work with Habitat for Humanity. We are excited to work with other volunteers from the St. Louis area in building a family a home!  We will also be working in the ReStore, the resale store that Habitat has for items like household appliances.