Empathy and Resilience

When I joined the Red Cross two years ago, I was still reeling from John’s death, and looking to find a way to help others facing a life-altering catastrophe. Finding a path to resilience requires a lot of helpful people with signposts that point the way. The last few weeks have reminded me that empathy is an essential job requirement for signpost holders.

The outpouring of support from people in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, the earthquakes in Mexico, and the California wildfires has been astounding. Financial donations, large and modest, have poured in. These are gifts from people who put themselves in the shoes of others.  We ourselves may never see our homes destroyed or go weeks without water and electricity, but we can imagine.

I’ve seen colleagues upend their own lives for weeks at a time to work in mass care shelters, or deliver relief supplies in beautiful parts of our country that have become temporarily uninhabitable.   I watched as local volunteers from the Chicago area, many of them retirees, left to drive loaded Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicles to Houston or Florida. Hundreds of people flooded our office on a recent Saturday to become trained disaster volunteers. 

In a year that has oftentimes felt petty, callous and downright scary, the view from my desk tells a more hopeful tale. Because of the empathy embedded in the human spirit, resilience after disaster is possible.

When disasters happen, the nation’s blood supply suffers too. The need for blood is constant, and critical. The mass shootings in Las Vegas brought this into sharp focus. One donation can save up to 3 lives. Please join me in rolling up a sleeve in memory of John on November 30th at the University Club. If you cannot donate that day, stop by anyway. Or, contribute to the purchase of a new blood transport vehicle that will be named for him.  https://www.crowdrise.com/john-ahearne-memorial-blood-drive