My goal as a volunteer? To help children laugh and smile again

Carol Conley is former teacher who was looking for an active retirement. She often accompanied her husband Michael to his regular platelet donation appointments at their local Red Cross Blood Donation Center. Platelet donations take roughly two hours and many days while waiting, she observed the activity around the donation center and talked with the volunteers manning the front desk. 

“Everyone I have met through the Red Cross is filled with kindness and compassion,” said Carol. “On the spur of the moment I asked whether I could talk with someone about volunteer opportunities, and that is when I met Linda Hokit, the Red Cross Regional Workforce Engagement Manager. She was inspirational, she made the gift of volunteer work come alive for me.” 

When asked about that meeting Linda says, “Carol is awesome. I met her when she was waiting for her husband to finish his platelet donation. She asked if there was someone she could talk with about volunteering; I immediately hurried down the stairs to talk with her and, as they say, the rest is history!” 

In the two years since then Carol has deployed as a shelter/feeding associate to Hurricanes Florence in North Carolina and Dorian in Florida; the Paradise fires in California and the 2019 tornadoes and floods that hit Muskogee, Oklahoma. It was at these shelter sites that Carol’s educational training was put to good use. As she looked around the various shelters where she was volunteering Carol saw families with children whose lives had been turned upside down and she started to think what can I do to help them? In her former teaching life, she had a particular interest in art and thus began Carol’s Coloring Corner! 

At one of the shelters local residents had dropped off a tub filled with puzzles, drawing paper and crayons for the children staying there. Carol set up the supplies in a corner of the shelter and began inviting the children to join her in drawing. She put their pictures up on the wall in the hopes that it would add even a touch of normalcy to their lives.” 

Soon she had children seeking her out for their daily coloring sessions. 

“I encourage anyone with time to give to consider volunteering with the Red Cross; their representatives will work closely with each person to find the best match for that individual’s skills and interests,” said Carol. “With the coloring corner I made it my primary goal to help the children to smile and laugh again. I will tell you what all volunteers will share when asked, I get as much out of volunteering as I give. I encourage readers to share their talents!”