# Red Vest Ready: A Red Cross Volunteer's Story

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-valley-today-1144037/red-vest-ready-a-red-cross-volunteer-s-story
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-valley-today-1144037/red-vest-ready-a-red-cross-volunteer-s-story.md
Podcast: [The Valley Today](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-valley-today-1144037)
Published: 2026-06-22T15:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://thevalleytodaypodcast.com/red-vest-ready-a-red-cross-volunteers-story
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/thevalleytoday/20260622VT.mp3?dest-id=2999852
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-valley-today-1144037/episodes/red-vest-ready-a-red-cross-volunteer-s-story
Duration seconds: 1827

## Resource

She saw the commercial — the one with the Red Cross volunteer in the red vest, hugging someone, handing over a blanket — and told her husband, "When I retire, I want to be that person." On this episode of The Valley Today, host Janet Michael continues her year-long Red Cross series with Deb Fleming, Executive Director of the Greater Shenandoah Valley Chapter, who brings along volunteer Jill Johnson — a retired teacher who has now been deployed five times (three nationally, two locally) and is on standby for another deployment as the conversation is happening. Jill walks through the surprisingly simple sign-up process at redcross.org, how the certifications stack (sheltering, feeding, and more), and the dual paths she's chosen: Prepare with Pedro, a K-2 disaster preparedness program she teaches in local schools, churches, and scout groups, alongside national deployments to Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers, the Southern California floods and mudslides, and Hurricane Helene in Asheville. She shares what it actually looks like inside a shelter — bearded dragons, dancing parrots, Tide trucks doing laundry, FEMA tents holding a thousand people for dinner — and why the Red Cross changed its pet policy after recognizing that families won't evacuate without their animals. Plus: Deb's good news that the chapter has already hit its volunteer recruitment goals for the year because so many people stepped up in unexpected ways. ABOUT THE GREATER SHENANDOAH VALLEY CHAPTER The American Red Cross Greater Shenandoah Valley Chapter serves the region with disaster response, blood services, military family support, health and safety education, and community preparedness programs. The chapter has met its 2026 volunteer recruitment goals — including a recent reduction in target numbers based on h…

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