When powerful hurricanes devastated North Carolina last fall, David Weale said he felt compelled to help out and began searching for the right opportunity.

A deep dive into a number of volunteering opportunities led to the American Red Cross, which has enabled the Butler resident to assist local people facing significant tragedies.

“I didn’t realize there was such a need in our local community,” Weale said. “I signed up, applied and went through some training. I really enjoyed what I saw and some of the things that they offered and just decided to volunteer and help out.”

While he’s just a few months into his endeavors with the national organization, Weale already has touched the lives of several people who have been through some of the worst situations.

“It’s been disaster relief and more specifically with home fires. I’ve been on two calls so far,” he said. “I’m a relatively new volunteer, and I’m still fresh in the water with this. I’m learning every day, and I’m learning from all these wonderful people who volunteer with me.”

Weale graduated from Mars Area High School in 2013. He now serves as a Disaster Action Team member and is one of about 60 volunteers in Butler County who can be called upon for local disasters and tragedies.

He said that the Red Cross does its best to identify where volunteers are most needed depending on their skills.

“You sign up and they ask you different questions like ‘What are your strengths? What are you good with? What’s your background? And some of the things you do professionally and outside of your profession?’” Weale said. “They try and match you with different volunteer opportunities to best fit what you’re looking for and what the Red Cross is looking for.”

Local volunteers like Weale are what drives the Red Cross, which has a national workforce that is 90% volunteer-based.

“The Red Cross would not be what it is without all of the people who give their time to volunteer with us,” said Nicole Roschella, a regional communications director for American Red Cross Greater Pennsylvania Region.

When the Red Cross receives a call for a disaster such as a home fire, typically from a fire department chief, the organization uses its own dispatch system to phone available volunteers.

“We basically have our own version of a dispatch system, similar to what you’d have with 911,” Roschella said. “24/7, someone is working our dispatch system to make sure that we get our volunteers out to calls and help people in need.”

Those volunteers go through constant training to make sure they’re in the best position to help people in need.

“They’re always relearning and going through more of the training processes as time goes on throughout their time with the Red Cross,” Roschella added. “We’re there to meet the immediate needs of people.”

For Weale, the volunteer experience has led to numerous interactions he would not have had otherwise.

“I don’t think people realize what kind of need there is in their own community and how many people are actually volunteers in their backyard,” he said. “I’ve met a handful of people who live within a mile to two miles from me. I didn’t realize how close of a community the Red Cross is with people and the volunteers.”

According to statistics provided by the Red Cross, the organization’s volunteers responded to 23 home fires and assisted 67 people in Butler County during 2024.

It also installed 125 smoke alarms, which made nearly 50 homes safer in the community.

There’s also a significant education component to the organization as volunteers taught around 200 people, including children, about fire safety and emergency preparedness.

The organization also hosted 72 blood drives in the county in 2024. That added up to nearly 2,000 blood donations.

The Red Cross, which is more than 140 years old, has had to go through different stages of modernization to keep up with the demand of today’s world, but Roschella insists that the organization still runs on its most basic principles.

“At the end of the day, it’s still about neighbors helping neighbors, and people with big hearts wanting to help in their community,” she said. “That part has really remained the same and stood the test of time.”

March is Red Cross Month, and Wednesday, March 26, is Red Cross Giving Day, which serves to rally supporters and garner financial assistance.

For more information, visit redcross.org/GivingDay.