By Volunteer Lina Estrada

The day began exactly as you’d expect it: in chaos. At 10 p.m. the night before, the idyllic beach town of Port Aransas, Texas had been bombarded with winds of up to 130 mph and unrelenting thunderstorms. The brisk air smelled of seawater and menace as the area had been ravaged by more than 50 inches of rain in a four day period, and in a short amount of time, that small and then insignificant tropical wave that began off the African coast on August 13, 2017, had metamorphosed into the Category 4 storm that would be known as Hurricane Harvey.

The Red Cross had deployed many disaster relief volunteers for this hurricane and amongst them was a Logistics Planner in the state of New Jersey, Peter Grey. Like thousands of others, he would be deployed to Houston to assist in disaster after disaster, like that of Hurricane Harvey, as a member of the Disaster Action Team.

Fast forward to Spring 2023, when Peter received the award for Outstanding Regional Volunteer in New Jersey. Humble and modest, he is honored to be recognized. And he never forgets the kind of work that he does. 

“Hurricane Harvey was one of the catastrophic events that stayed with me,” Grey says.

Peter Grey began volunteering as a Logistics Planner with Disaster Services in 2015 out of a desire to both do something productive and help others. “I was working at home and I wanted to do something useful that would help people in the process,” he says.

But perhaps it wasn’t just this that led Peter to becoming a volunteer specifically in disasters. Though he doesn’t implicitly say it, his career as a pilot has led him through some near brushes with death itself and perhaps Peter wanted to assist those who had been affected by experiences similar to his. “I’ve had near accidents as a pilot. Close friends had to help me out after near death accidents,” he said hesitantly.

Peter was helping by planning the day by day activities taking place on either day 1 or day 20 of any given disaster. “I started working with the team to tackle disasters in a variety of local events that included both fires and tornadoes in NJ,” Grey says. As a member of the disaster support team, he’d work with everything from driving transportation vehicles to logistical planning to ensure that everyone was supported in the aftermath of a natural disaster. He worked in this capacity for two years.

Yet like every true volunteer, he knew that being a real team player was really about being where he was needed most. And so in 2017, without much hesitation (if any at all) Grey packed his bags and went to Houston to assist in what would be known as the largest disaster to hit that area of Texas since 2005. What he found was exactly what he was looking for: his calling. What he discovered was the place where vulnerability needed nurturing, where endings had become beginnings and where even the smallest act of kindness, was the greatest demonstrator of strength and the unrelenting human spirit.

Looking back, it’s almost as if his entire life had been preparing him for his work in the Red Cross. A pilot by trade with a modest attitude and a penchant for community service, Peter had been slowly gravitating towards the moment in which both his analytical expertise and willingness to help others would collide, culminating in this newly found role- that of a deployment volunteer for disaster services.

Like many other volunteers, Peter already had the professional expertise needed for his volunteer position. But it was his passion for the Red Cross’ mission that really drove him to doing all that he did. “I received my Bachelor’s in Aeronautical Science from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and my Masters in Organizational Leadership from North Central University,” he said. His bachelor’s allowed him to pursue a career as a pilot and to work as a Flight Instructor for sometime at the company Express Vet. He was also able to get pilot ratings before working as the Director of Aviation in Control and Flight Simulations, the job he worked while being a volunteer. And his masters degree only bolstered that wisdom that he had to make quick and difficult decisions that he already had to encounter while in the air.

To this day, Peter continues to work in disaster services. Since 2021, he’s had the role of Incident Commander. “We work on how to respond to disasters at the field level,” he says with enthusiasm.

The story of how many volunteers end up assisting with Red Cross Disaster Services is never exactly linear. But what is clear is that each story shows the compassion and determination that every volunteer has for the mission of the Red Cross, which is ultimately the backbone of the Red Cross organization.

Congratulations Peter! Your work is greatly appreciated by all at the American Red Cross – and especially by all those you help.