When you think about retirement, you probably think about sleeping in, playing golf, reading and traveling. Volunteering might also come to mind, but volunteering 40 hours a week?

    That’s what Dave Blackwood has been doing at the Grand Canyon Chapter of the American Red Cross since Feb. 8, 1999.

    Blackwood, a North Central Phoenix resident, started on the usual retirement track and hit the links a few days a week. He did that for about a year, but didn’t quite feel fulfilled. “I wanted to be productive and help my community and the Red Cross came to mind,” he recalls.

 

The Alabama native first came across the Red Cross while traveling with the Army from England to France during World War II. Blackwood was charged with transporting supplies to the front lines with the Corps of Engineers. His troop was moving in behind the invasion of Normandy. “I was extremely tired and hungry and the Red Cross volunteers were there passing out donuts and coffee,” remembers Blackwood. “The volunteers were kind and that meant a lot to us.”

    The 88-year-old wanted to pay the organization back for its kindness. As soon as Blackwood completed his New Volunteer Orientation he offered to take any job that needed to be done. “I told my supervisor Donna Hamill, ‘If you teach me how to work the computer, I’ll take the toughest job you got.’” That’s what she did.

    For 10 years, Red Crossers have seen Blackwood at the Phoenix office every Monday through Friday diligently pecking away at the keyboard, entering student names after they completed classes. He has spent more than 20,000 hours of his free time entering tens of thousands of names into the database.

    Blackwood insists he gets a lot out of his volunteer work at the Red Cross. “I like to stay busy and I really like the people.”

     The Red Cross Grand Canyon Chapter, located at 6135 N. Black Canyon Hwy., has dozens of volunteer opportunities. “We take people’s skills, experiences and background and match them up with different positions within the organization,” Hamill explains. “The Red Cross provides training to ensure volunteers feel comfortable and confident in the help they provide.”

    To learn more call 602-336-6497 or e-mail volunteer@arizonaredcross.org.