Thank You Red Cross!

Hello - my name is Robb Morford. I'm a Michigan's AmeriCorps member serving with the Washtenaw-Lenawee chapter of the American Red Cross through their statewide Together We Prepare AmeriCorps (TWPA) program. In addition to providing immediate assistance to disaster victims, my fellow TWPA members and I also educate Michigan residents on how to prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies and disasters.

On October 27th, I was deployed to New York with a few of my fellow TWPA members to support the American Red Cross response to Hurricane Sandy. During the next 20 days, I had the pleasure of meeting some of the greatest people in the United States and serving with some of the most caring and selfless people in the world as we provided water, supplies, and other necessary support to Sandy victims whose lives had been devastated by the storm.

After three weeks of service in New York, I was starting to get tired from fifteen hour days where I went non-stop. In situations like that, you sometimes need a reminder of why you are putting yourself through such torture. I got that reminder one cold afternoon as we were driving down our route.

After helping one of my regular clients who I had grown close to, my partner in the driver seat told me to step out of the back of our truck and look at this house. I got out of the truck thinking it was going to be more devastation or another house boat in the street I just had to see. This was not another house boat or more devastation. It was more impressive than any of that.

Over this client's garage, in many different colors, was a banner that said, "Thank You Red Cross!"
 

After three weeks of struggle, frustration, and pure tiredness, that simple banner and knowing that we were doing something good warmed my heart and kept me going. To that family, thank you. You make it all worth it.