The renovated DAT room complete with new flooring, a flat screen tv, and a Nintendo Wii.

I've been a Red Cross volunteer since 2007, frequently spending my Wednesday nights down in the Chapter's Ready Room. Last year I was fortunate enough to experience a streak not often allowed to us - no fires for my team from late February until this past January. Aside from the occasional disaster assessment for a fire earlier in the day or helping to relieve a team that's been at a fire into the next shift time, I've had a lot of boring nights. I would often apologize to new volunteers because riding with me meant they were not going to have a chance to learn their new job. All that time spent not being at a fire scene allowed me to get a lot of my own work done and let me sit back and reflect. 

There was always a sense of calmness and relief on those fireless nights. It was one more night you didn't have to experience a family's sorrow of losing their home, their memories, and in some cases, a loved one. I've been to more fires than I can count and I've spent more nights than I could have ever imagined sitting in ambulances holding the hands of someone experiencing one of their life's biggest traumas. To not experience that once in a while, is quite a blessing. It's also quite boring. 

In October, I had less work to bring with me into the Ready Room and I noticed that something was missing. Though my Wednesday team (we have a rotation of about 8 of us) all knows each other really well and have a great time together, not everyone has that luxury. On some teams, you may never see the same volunteer twice and it can be really hard to complete an eight hour shift if you don't have something to do. That October night, I started making a list of what I would like to give to the DAT volunteers. Quickly a light bulb went off over my head. I don't have money for any of this. I tried to put the idea in the back of my head but it wouldn't go away. A week later I was in Macy's buying my mom a birthday present and I saw them putting up Christmas decorations and playing carols. After my initial disgust at this taking place in October, another light bulb went off. Christmas presents. I didn't need anything or really want anything special so why not forgo my personal Christmas? I spoke to my family and it was settled. November came and we started discussing the idea with those at the Red Cross and in December, I got my present. Becky White, my mom and I all went on a shopping trip during my normal Wednesday shift. I'm not going to lie, we had a blast. As Becky and I kept exchanging excited looks and giggles, the whole thing seemed unreal. That night we made a special delivery to the Ready Room in our Honda sleigh and put a brand new television, Nintendo Wii, and games under our tree.

Now we have a whole new Ready Room. After being temporarily placed in the communication room, the Red Cross has completely redecorated our room with new paint, new flooring, new counters and a new configuration that means more space! It's simply beautiful! 

I can't wait until my next shift to see how many new Mii characters the volunteers have created on the Wii and I'm so happy people are enjoying the new toys so far. Our volunteers are the best and I'm proud to have played a tiny part in showing them just how much they're appreciated by all.