Hi! My name is Brad Warren, and I’m a volunteer with the Red Cross here in Alameda County, California. Technically, I’m called a Blood Services Community Outreach Specialist, which is a fancy title that means I give free talks to the public on the urgent need for more blood donors. I’m also a Public Affairs spokesperson, as well as trained to be a Disaster Cycle Services shelter worker to deploy wherever I might be needed to help staff a shelter in times of an emergency, such as a flood, earthquake, fire, etc. But today I want to focus on why and how to become a donor, because “Ve Vant Your Blood!”
Brad donating blood in the San Leandro office
Before I go any further, let me briefly explain how I became a volunteer. I’m a former business coach, speaker and trainer, and after a 40+ year career, I semi-retired and found myself with a lot of time on my hands. So, I called my local Red Cross office and said I wanted to volunteer, and that my best skill was as a public speaker. And guess what? They told me there wasn’t any such position available! Well, being a rather assertive person (just ask my wife), I asked to speak to someone further up the corporate ladder. To make a very long story very short, two weeks later they called me back. They said, “Brad, we’ve created a new position just for you called a Community Outreach Specialist” and so began my volunteer work doing speaking engagements with the express purpose of getting more people to roll up their sleeves and donate.
In my weekly one-on-one meetings with my supervisor, the question of professional development often arises. Usually, I’d offer a standard answer, something about improving my Excel skills or taking a project management course. Honestly, I hadn’t given it much serious thought. That is, until I said “yes” to a deployment opportunity to help with the disaster response operation for the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles. It was then I realized the Red Cross offers growth opportunities far beyond what I could imagine – opportunities for profound personal and professional development.
Sophia Eckert’s first experience donating platelets with the American Red Cross in January 2025 was an emotional experience. Sophia looked around at the frequent donors who, according to the phlebotomist, came weekly to give platelets and she started to think about her two-year old son Roger. “That made me tear up,” Sophia said, “thinking Roger might have used their blood product to save his life.”
Pastor Riley praying over a wounded service member in Afghanistan. Photo courtesy of Frank Riley
As the largest non-profit humanitarian international organization, the American Red Cross unites volunteers globally in a common mission of service to others — a mission that blood donor Frank Riley strongly believes in. From his time serving in the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps to serving his communities as a pastor, Frank has made it a priority to live out the Red Cross mission in every aspect of his life.
Frank has been a consistent blood donor since 2008 after learning that he has cytomegalovirus (CMV) negative blood, a rare blood type needed by premature babies and children with weakened immune systems. He was informed of his rare blood type during his first donation at a drive hosted by the Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
The holiday season can be a tough time for those who are away from home. For U.S. military members and their families stationed at an international military base, this feeling can be particularly strong. Aerial Chen, Service to the Armed Forces specialist for the Northern California Coastal Region, has been deployed to Poland since July 2024 to support the Red Cross mission and bring a sense of home and warmth to the service members on base.
Aerial and volunteers from the morale team coordinate several activities year-round but get especially creative around the holidays. They are excited to organize holiday traditions, including decorating Santa hats, undertaking a holiday cooking challenge, baking holiday cookies from scratch, performing surprise caroling for the troops, building gingerbread houses, and more.
“For me, this holiday [season] reminds me to be grateful,” Aerial stated. “I am currently grateful for the warm weather, delicious food, and a supportive network of family, friends, and colleagues back home in California. I am especially grateful for the care packages that folks from our Red Cross teams and staff had been sending me as it truly helps to keep me motivated in supporting our service members.”
Photo Courtesy of Aerial Chen
This particular deployment has challenges like no other for Red Crossers and service members alike. From experiencing sunset at 3 p.m., lacking access to a proper kitchen to cook, or being away from loved ones for a long time, these unique moments can be difficult. “To ease these hardships, the Red Cross has helped by facilitating fun morale events every day to keep people’s spirits up, providing cooking equipment that can be used in the Morale Welfare and Recreation tent, and offering free stamps and cards to send home to loved ones,” Aerial explained.
Service members are always encouraged to volunteer with the Red Cross. “They can recruit other volunteers, brainstorm and facilitate morale events, or keep the respite room clean and stocked with snacks, hygiene supplies, and coffee, among many other activities,” Aerial commented.
Photo Courtesy of Aerial Chen
As a thank you note for Aerial and her amazing team, Sergeant Daniel Sotoluna shared a story that surely portrays the Red Cross mission in action: “It was a dark and cloudy day. We had been firing tanks and enduring the cold all day, and night was fast approaching. As we sat there in the cold huddled up like penguins, the wind howled and rushed past feeling sharp like a knife. As we started to go quiet, taking a break for a couple of hours, the Red Cross showed up like an angel coming to help us fight the cold,” he said. “Morale picked up quickly within the companies of 2-12 and even after enduring such harsh cold, soldiers were able to smile and ran towards the Red Cross. Not only was hot chocolate and coffee provided which warmed the soul, but they armed us with hand warmers to help us stay warmer longer during the night. With smiles on our faces and warm fluids in our bodies we prepared for the night and thanked the volunteers of the Red Cross for coming to our aid during training and the battle of the cold. Everyone appreciated how the Red Cross provided us with support and couldn’t wait to see them once again. Thank you, Red Cross.”
We are proud to be represented abroad by Aerial Chen and many other Red Crossers who dedicate their time to our humanitarian mission. Thank you for your service!
“We are so focused on responding and getting a job done, but that isn’t how you touch peoples’ lives. You do that by listening to them, talking to them, letting them tell their story and finding out what they need. Then you help them,” is a sentiment that has guided Briana Taylor, first by a career in psychology, and later by two decades of service with the American Red Cross.
Briana’s introduction to disaster response was happenstance. In her professional role in mental health, Briana had spent many years working to alleviate human suffering on an individual level, tending to the needs of her patients in their darkest hour. In 2004, Briana was vacationing in Phuket, Thailand with her family, briefly taking off her psychologist hat, when a tsunami took to the island’s shores. Six weeks later, her drive to alleviate suffering took flight on the community-level, as she returned to Thailand to support islanders in their recovery.
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