Why I'm Fundraising: APAT

Yes, it's been a while since I've written, but that's because I haven't been home in almost a month.  I've been all over the country teaching people things about social engagement, telling people about our social engagement program, and pretty much being a social engagement person...I had the opportunity to sleep in my bed 6 of the past 30 nights.

Tuscaloosa, AL: 2011

But I'm home and I want to share something with you.  It's been a very important part of the work that I do.  I'm a member of the American Red Cross' Advanced Public Affairs Team (APAT).To be honest, it was a honor that I didn't know was such until I deployed.  You see, I somehow got invited to join.  You don't just "sign up" for APAT, they're looking for the best of the best; I'm not exactly sure how I was nominated to join, but I received my paperwork, and in a DayQuil-induced haze, I signed the paperwork and sent it back to National.

Once my drug-induced state of happiness wore off, I suddenly realized what I got myself into; "must be ready to deploy within hours of receiving notice" and "must be ready to deploy during hurricane season" were some of the phrases that were suddenly staring me in the eye.  I HATE bad weather and suddenly I signed up to go sit in the middle of every bad weather system known to mankind?!?!

Cape Cod, MA: 2010

But then in 2010, I deployed to Tennessee to help with the floods, then to Texas, then to Massachusetts, and so on and so forth.  It dawned on me just how important this work is to the success of the Red Cross Mission. This team of 150 or so of my peers were literally the first feet on the ground, running all over to find stories, pitch to media, and send content to National Headquarters so that we were able to share with the American public that the Red Cross was there, we were on the ground, we were helping people in their darkest hour.  It's by no means a glamorous job; we're in the thick of a disaster when we hit the ground - we're creating our own solutions to every issue imaginable, and we're having to go in with every supply you could ever imagine needing (I found that rubber bands can have many uses outside of tying one's hair back, and ice buckets can be used to clean dirty laundry!)


So why am I blabbing on about APAT?  Because this past week we got together for our annual training, and I had the opportunity to reconnect with my friends - many of whom I now consider family - and re-energize, hone our skills, and take a moment to reflect on the amazing work we did in the past 12 months.  Here is a video that gives you a feel for what it is that we've done.  Thanks for supporting the mission.  Click here to support the Red Cross through my Boston Marathon program.