Volunteers Tell Tales of Red Cross Deeds

Local American Red Cross volunteers and people who have been served by the organization gathered Wednesday to share stories and celebrate American Red Cross Month and the 100th anniversary of the Anaheim House.

About 35 people listened to volunteers talk about the rewards of their labor, and Mary Reed told of the dream the Red Cross helped her to realize six months ago.

In 1964 during the Vietnam War, Reed, 36, had been given up for adoption by a mother desperate to get her ill child out of Saigon. Reed had contracted smallpox and was adopted by a Thousand Oaks couple. Letters from her mother, Thanh Dao, stopped coming after two years when Dao lost Reed’s address during a bombing raid on her village. Dao was presumed dead.

Six months ago, however, Reed was reunited with her mother, whom she hadn’t seen in 29 years. The Red Cross, which tracks lost family members in war-stricken areas, had searched for Dao for three years.

Throughout “my childhood and most of my adulthood, I always had one dream, to hold my mother in my arms,” Reed said. “After 29 years, my dream came true. . . . I have great respect and admiration for the Red Cross for making my dream come true and changing my life. It’s a happy ending.”

Red Cross officials said many people don’t know about the organization’s free tracking service or other services that are offered throughout the year.

“We get a lot of coverage during the disasters,” said Kara Lakkees, a spokeswoman for the Orange County chapter of the Red Cross. “But we’re not like fairies in the night that just come out when everything goes bad. We’re here all year round. Yesterday, today and always.”

Lakkees said aid is provided during disasters, but youth activities and social services also are offered throughout the year. She said she hopes the celebration of Red Cross Month will inform people about the many services offered by the organization and inspire people to become volunteers.

Between tours of the Red Cross-owned and operated Anaheim House, a museum filled with Red Cross memorabilia, Vivian Engelbrecht told why she has been a volunteer for 60 years.

“It’s twofold,” she explained. “You get joy from doing for others and personal satisfaction. It sounds corny, but in reality it’s the truth.”