27 Years of Volunteering and Counting

By Cindy Huge, Public Affairs Volunteer

With 27 years of volunteering and 15 deployments under his work belt, Jerry Chavez is a dedicated American Red Cross volunteer.

He has spent the last week in the Kern River Valley, supporting people in their recovery after the historic Borel Fire left devastation in its path. To him and his team of volunteers, delivering emergency supplies to help people who have lost their homes means more than handing them rakes, shovels and cleaning products – it represents providing hope to disaster survivors.

This isn’t the first, or likely the last, record-breaking disaster Jerry will find himself at.

His first experience as a Red Cross volunteer began in 1997 when floodwaters devastated communities in Tulare County, right in his own community. It was the last time the Tulare Lake reappeared in the late 90’s. That was until 2023, when Tulare Lake made its massive resurgence after historic flooding occurred across California, and once again Jerry was there to help by delivering meals to hard hit communities cut off by flooded roads.  

Like thousands of people across the country, Jerry felt called to help people impacted by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Upon learning about the Category 5 Hurricane that caused devastation to multiple Gulf states, Chavez asked to deploy to help and even took three weeks of paid vacation to lend a hand in the recovery efforts.

Jerry is known as a humble person who wants to do good for others. “I wanted to give back to my community by helping those in need, to help reduce the suffering and to make a difference,” stated Chavez. Jerry uses his free time to participate in various Red Cross volunteer opportunities at home and across the country.

The positive support of his family has been very encouraging to him. “They know the importance of helping others and encourage me to deploy.”

Now that Chavez is semi-retired, he hopes to add on to the 15 national disasters he has deployed to where you will find him volunteering behind the scenes, driving our emergency response vehicles filled with vital recovery supplies or meals, and getting them into the hands of disaster survivors.

So many volunteers, like Chavez, give their time to help those who have been affected by disasters throughout the United States. Visit redcross.org/volunteertoday to learn how you can make a difference in these most-needed positions.