Volunteer Turned Board Member Stays Calm, Cool and Collected

Left to right: Gerry Grant, chair of the board, presents Miles
Hardaway with an award during the 2013 Presidential
Awards Ceremony.

By Kassidy Ketron, Intern

Miles Hardaway is able to remain calm during highly stressful situations, which is why he said the American Red Cross is perfect for him.

“I have always been very good in disasters,” he said. “I have a cool mind in a disaster situation and I’ve known that about myself since I was a teenager. So when I decided to start giving back to my community, the Red Cross was a natural fit for my skill sets, or that skill set anyways.”

Hardaway serves on the board, but has been volunteering for about two years as a Disaster Action Team Captain.

The Disaster Action Team members respond immediately to a disaster when called by emergency dispatch. Specially trained DAT volunteers assess the scope of the damage and meet with the affected family or families to determine their immediate disaster-related needs and ensure that those needs are met.

“It’s a way of giving back to the community that you live in,” Hardaway said. “It is a big national organization, but the work that the Red Cross does is always at the local level and it requires local volunteers in order to perform the work of the Red Cross.”

Although he is able to stay calm in collected during stressful situations, he said there are a few things that are more difficult to handle than others.

“I guess the most emotional thing is when a client has lost a pet, then they really lose it,” Hardaway said. “I have four dogs at home and so I really do relate to them and I give my dogs a big hug and a lot of attention after something like that happens.”

While some are upset after the loss of a furry friend, the most common reaction is shock after a family loses their home to a fire, he said. Others may be inconsolable or be calm and take charge of the care of their family.

Volunteers will work with the head of the family to fill out paperwork, explaining the situation and determining which of their belongings are salvageable, Hardaway said.

“They don’t even know what to do when we arrive, or where to go, or what to do at all,” he said. “We give them some directions and we get them thinking about how to recover from this. At the beginning they’re in trauma — they’re not even thinking about it.”

No matter how stressful the situation may be, Hardaway said bringing peace to families during one of the most chaotic days of their lives is the best part of what he does.

To join Miles in helping people in your community, visit RedCross.org to learn what you can do to help.