Official Blog of the American Red Cross Eastern New York Region

Congratulation to May Becker who is the Eastern New York Region’s Volunteer of the Year!

May received the award at our recent Regional Volunteer Awards Ceremony with volunteers and staff attending at all of our offices across the region, as well as virtually. Disaster Program Manager Susan Pope presented the award with these remarks:

(Frank McDowell, American Red Cross)

“Where do I start? Maybe at the beginning.

“May’s first connection with the Red Cross was in support of blood drives when she was at Syracuse University.

“But May was inspired to volunteer with Disaster Services at the Red Cross after 9/11 and joined on November 16, 2001, almost 22 years ago.

“On her application, May checked the following opportunities that she was interested in:
Microsoft Office, Record Keeping/Clerical Support, Special Events Coordinator, Office Volunteer Leadership, Computer Data Entry, Interviewing, Public Relations.
May has done all of these at some point. In fact, over the years, May has developed her skills to support 38 different functions within the Red Cross.

“May responded to home fires with the Disaster Action Team for 14 years, primarily on the night shift and primarily in Onondaga County. Her biggest concern during that time was her husband, who would wake up when May got the call in the middle of the night and couldn’t go back to sleep until she was safely back home. May fully understands that it’s not just the volunteer who gives to the Red Cross, but also their family at home.

“May’s love of and interest in people makes her a natural fit for Disaster Workforce Engagement. She really enjoys meeting new recruits and imparting her passion for what the Red Cross does. May also channeled that passion into serving on the Board of Directors from 2002 to 2008.

“May is known for taking care of our physical well-being and brings goodies to Onboarding Orientations, meetings and classes – candy, cookies, pastries, holiday treats. It’s part of the reason she’s known as ‘Mother May’ by local volunteers.

“If all of May’s deployments are captured correctly in her Volunteer Connection profile, May has been deployed 23 times.

“Her primary role on deployments nowadays is in Staff Services (Disaster HR, so to speak) but May has been deployed in Mass Care, Individual Disaster Care and, in 2017, as a Fiscal Reviewer with a three-month virtual deployment for Hurricane Irma.

“Since the very first Real Heroes Event in Syracuse in 2002, May has been part of the planning and organizing team. Since May keeps records of everything, she’s a great source of information on events like this and on the rare occasion that she doesn’t have the answer ready, she knows where to find it.

“Since 2002, May has also been integral to the success of the New York State Fair Parking Lot fundraiser. After all these years, May knows who to call for specific roles, who will fill in at a moment’s notice if someone is a no-show, who is flexible, who simply has to have a certain shift on a certain day with a specific role. With 400+ shifts to fill, May’s knowledge is invaluable.”

“In those days when May first submitted her application to Disaster Services, we used to ask new volunteers to give references – and we called them. The person who called May’s former boss made the following notes from the conversation:
‘Not afraid to get her hands dirty’ (parking lot since 2002)
‘Can talk to anyone’ (volunteer engagement)
‘Consummate professional’ (everything May touches)
‘Goal-oriented’
‘Competitive
‘Always learning’ – May reads EVERYTHING. She’s a wealth of information and there’s very little May doesn’t know about the Red Cross

“And finally, her former boss said:
‘She could run the national Red Cross’

“With 13,833 hours on record – and many more that aren’t documented – May has definitely been part of the running of the Red Cross chapter in Syracuse over the past 22 years and it is my privilege and honor to present this year’s Regional Volunteer of the Year Award to our very own May Becker.”