Red Cross volunteers recognized

Photo Provided Sumter volunteer Larry Nettles received the Elizabeth Poat Award at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Red Cross of Central South Carolina recently.

By RANDY BURNS
Item Staff Writer
rburns@theitem.com

A couple of tri-county Red Cross volunteers were recognized at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Red Cross of Central South Carolina recently held in Columbia.

Sumter volunteer Larry Nettles received the Elizabeth Poat Award, the highest award given to a volunteer for exemplifying the highest standard of commitment and volunteer service to Red Cross in the 10-county Central Carolina Chapter

Clarendon County's Ron Smithwick was the recipient of the chapter's George Hall Disaster Award, the highest award for a volunteer providing disaster relief services.

"They are such dedicated volunteers," said Nancy Cataldo, director of operations at The Sumter Tri-County Red Cross Service Center. "The chapter is lucky to have these two as volunteers."

Nettles said the award was his first chapter-wide recognition.

"I didn't join this to get awards," he said. "But if this recognition helps get the message about what Red Cross is all about, then I am going to take advantage of it. A lot of people still don't know what Red Cross does in our local area."

Smithwick said he "feels like there are more deserving recipients."

"But I appreciate the award" said Smithwick, "and I told them that I wasn't giving it back."

Nettles and Smithwick, as all Red Cross volunteers, receive no money for their time.

"I tease people and say we wouldn't work as hard if we got paid," Smithwick said.

Since 2004, Nettles has spent almost every day living the mission of the American Red Cross and telling the great story of our organization, Cataldo said.

"He spends much time raising money and the rest of his time supporting the disaster mission and assisting victims of disaster," she said.

"Each week, Larry meets with as many as 15 individuals or organizations telling them about the programs and services of the American Red Cross. These meetings have helped raise over $40,000 for the Tri-County Service Center and the Central South Carolina Chapter."

Nettles not only plays a vital role in fundraising, but he is also directly involved in supporting the Red Cross disaster mission.

"Larry has spent many days working in the National warehouse receiving, inventorying and deploying supplies," Cataldo said. "At least two weeks of every month, Larry carries a pager for one or more counties within the chapter's jurisdiction. His unselfish dedication and passion for disaster services shows when he's called to respond to a fire. Night or day, the clients become the top priority for him. His great sense of humor usually has the clients laughing despite the tragic event in their lives."

Smithwick, a disaster services human resources supervisor, has been an American Red Cross volunteer since October 2005. Since then, he has grown from a disaster action team member in Clarendon County to a well known volunteer leader throughout the state.

He played a vital role in the Red Cross response to the numerous tornadoes that struck the state in April 2008, Cataldo said.

"He provided disaster assessment for the operation in Kershaw County," she said. "He served as casework manager for the Red Cross operation in 23 counties within the state, which created 252 cases serving 780 clients and disbursing almost $80,000. The operation lasted 37 days and during that time Ron supervised many caseworkers, reviewed the cases and made recommendations to chapter staff regarding volunteer and staff development. He spent many hours on the phone and traveling throughout the state. Ron was recommended for promotion to supervisor after the operation due to the outstanding job he did."

Smithwick now serves on the Columbia Regional Disaster Committee for the Chapter. This committee assures that there is consistent and efficient service delivery throughout the Columbia region, which encompasses six chapters and 28 counties in South Carolina. He also serves as American Red Cross representative on the State of South Carolina Recovery Task Force.



ON THE NET

Visit www.centralscredcross.org for more information on Red Cross services.

Photo Provided Clarendon County volunteer Ron Smithwick, second from right, received the George Hall Disaster Award as Delissa English, CEO of South Carolina Red Cross Blood Services, Red Cross volunteer Charlotte Berry, and Chapter CEO Scott Salemme look on.