Something Bigger Than Yourself: 13 Years of Service Through the Eyes of Leanna Carskaddon
By Alison Votaw, American Red Cross Volunteer
When Leanna Carskaddon, Senior Volunteer Recruitment Specialist at the American Red Cross, looks around a room full of Red Cross volunteers, she can barely get through a speech without getting emotional. Leanna is constantly amazed by the local volunteers who constantly show up for their community every day. From her aunt’s phone call in 2012 to her current role supporting youth clubs across the region, Leanna’s story is a masterclass in what it means to lead by example.
Leanna didn’t find the Red Cross by accident. Like many, she witnessed the Red Cross helping during national disasters.
“When my kids got older and didn’t need me as much, I’m gonna go do that,” she told herself. She just didn’t know a local chapter existed until her aunt, volunteering at the front desk one summer, called her up and said, “You have to come down here. You’re gonna love this.” That one phone call launched an 11-year volunteer career before Leanna transitioned to paid staff, a decision she describes as feeling simply right when the time came.
“She was just leading by example. She didn’t have to go find a way to volunteer. She was doing it by being her.”
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