The Boeing Blue Bills is a
group of retired Boeing employees who are committed to making their local
communities a better place for everyone
After the wind storms last
winter, a Blue Bills chapter located on the Eastside decided that they
wanted to assist people in times of disaster, so they contacted their
local Red Cross.
Bellevue resident
Kathy Anderson, 59, and recent retiree as of last November, was interested
because she wanted to help people.
“I’ve seen all the huge
natural disasters that are occurring and I wanted to do something,” she
said. “The Red Cross has a great reputation for helping people – and I
wanted to help people, hands-on, on-the-front-lines helping
people.”
Since August Kathy and
about a dozen fellow Blue Bills have been taking Red Cross training to
become shelter volunteers who will work as a cohesive team.
Howard Ferrucci, local Red
Cross mass care manager, said, “Working as group is an advantage because
they know one another and know each others’ strengths.”
Kathy said they would be
ready to work in a shelter right now, if needed, but the group has to wait
until they complete First Aid and CPR training at the end of November.
After, the team will be officially ready to work. And they are looking
forward to it.
Kathy, a former finance
manager, enjoys talking to people and thinks that will serve her well in
an actual shelter.
Kirkland resident
Penny Kahn, who lost power last winter, worked in Community Relations at
Boeing and used to cater, so she is excited about feeding large groups of
people.
The Eastside group has
also used their training sessions as a time to get to know each other.
Peggy joked that she can’t get the group to attend a regular meeting, but
everyone shows up for the Red Cross trainings.
Kathy said that they are
really bonding as a team, and should they ever be called upon to work a
shelter they’ll be ready.
“A lot of us signed up as
individuals,” she said. “But there is an advantage in knowing one another,
and it’s a lot of fun.”
If you or your group are interested in volunteering on a
community shelter team, contact the Red Cross at (206) 323-2345 or (360)
377-3761 or click here.
