By Susan Gallagher, American Red Cross
American Red Cross Missouri-Arkansas Region 2022 Volunteer Impact Award recipient Dee Morin spent her early life on an Iowa farm. Her father grew a variety of crops and her mother was a teacher in the nearby town of Vinton, made famous by a school for the blind featured in books by Little House on the Prairie author Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Following high school, Dee left the farm to become a city-dweller, earning a bachelor’s degree at the University of Northern Iowa. After completing the clinical laboratory science program at the University of Iowa she worked in the clinical laboratory at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
Eventually she moved to St. Louis and joined a clinical laboratory systems company serving small hospitals and clinics. After a stint implementing laboratory computer systems, she assumed a training and development role, helping staff at small hospitals and clinics use information systems in patient care. After twenty-two years in the medical field, she joined the rent-a-car giant Enterprise Holdings, and for nineteen years led information technology professional development projects and developed employee development and performance management programs, many accessed through learning management systems and intranet portals.
“When COVID-19 lock-down hit the rental care business hard, it seemed a good time to retire,” Dee said. “I began searching for volunteer opportunities that would not only allow me to use my skills, but also build upon them. My husband and I had always donated to the American Red Cross. We knew it was a wonderful organization that serves many people all over the nation. We trusted the Red Cross, but I was truly surprised at how flexible and varied the opportunities for volunteers turned out to be. The staff at the Red Cross is so welcoming and was so interested in working to find the right role for me.”
Dee’s combination of training and development expertise and technical skills made her a natural for creating and facilitating virtual training opportunities for Red Cross volunteers. “There had been four major updates in the functionality of our volunteer management system, and we needed to guide volunteers through their use and test their effectiveness.”
Dee scheduled virtual meetings on the updates and created and facilitated monthly regional training opportunities for volunteers. She also represents the Missouri-Arkansas Region Volunteer Connection Lead calls and is a member of the Regional Application Support team.
“Dee has gone above and beyond the expectations of her role as part of the Volunteer Services leadership,” said Becca Merritt, MOAR Red Cross Local Volunteer Associate. “The team highly values her contribution.”
Dee has special praise for Becca who supports her role as Volunteer Connection Lead, including setting up focus groups to acquire feedback from volunteers about how they use Volunteer Connection and how to improve or add more functionality to the system.
Dee’s American Red Cross volunteer duties are primarily done from her home computer, but she also volunteered in-person during the COVID lock-down at the St. Louis County Library in the Bridgeton, MO, library near her home, distributing box lunches to school children who are food-insecure. She also sorts and assembles boxes of food at the St. Louis Food Bank. She also volunteers with the St. Louis-based International Institute, assisting recent Afghan immigrants by taking them to appointments and teaching job interviewing and resume writing skills.
Behind-the-scenes technology support for American Red Cross volunteers is essential as the workforce responds to disasters and supports non-disaster humanitarian efforts. For her many valuable contributions, Dee Morin is recognized as a 2022 Missouri-Arkansas Red Cross Volunteer Impact award winner.
