My name is David Yeung, and I took an early retirement in March last year after 22 years with Northrop Grumman Corp.
Upon retirement, an obvious question asked of me was how I would spend my golden years? Since our relatives in New Orleans had benefited greatly from the American Red Cross after Hurricane Katrina, I decided to sign up as a volunteer with the Red Cross.
Happily, my wife, Gim Mae, a part-time math teacher, decided to join me in this wonderful endeavor. After our 33 years of marriage, we finally embarked on a new adventure together – working side by side for humanity.
We were somewhat naive in thinking our professional work experience would be more than adequate to qualify us as effective disaster volunteers. In actuality, we needed to take various training courses to learn what responsibilities the Red Cross and its volunteers have during disasters. After these classes, we walked away with a deeper appreciation of the Red Cross infrastructure, logistics and resources necessary to run an effective relief operation.
Since becoming active volunteer, we have represented the Red Cross at community outreach events, a fundraiser for Peru earthquake victims, and as disaster volunteers at Red Cross shelters during the October 2007 wildfires. I also volunteered with the national technology team for 10 days in San Bernardino during the wildfires.
Our satisfaction in volunteering comes when we hear the words “thank you” spoken by strangers we have helped.
We truly are proud of being Red Cross volunteers.
Tags: David Yeung, Mae Yeung, Red Cross volunteers, Why I volunteer
