This March, we’re marking American Red Cross month in the state of Vermont. But before the Red Cross can serve the community, it needs the help of volunteers. One Moretown woman has dedicated her time to the Red Cross for over two decades.

The Red Cross provides help, anywhere and anytime, whether it be a hurricane, flood, or house fire. That help often comes through volunteers; the Red Cross is 90% volunteer based.

“Volunteers take part in just about every aspect of our missions, whether its community facing, boots on the ground efforts, or behind the scenes,” says Erica Fuller, the Senior Volunteer Recruitment Specialist with the Red Cross.

Cheri Lundblad is part of the army of volunteers. She’s been involved since 1998; 25 years of volunteering. A lifelong commitment, and previously working as an EMT, brought her to where she is today.

But for Lundblad, it’s seeing the people she helps that makes it worth it. “I like the satisfaction I see on their faces,” she says.

Lundblad has deployed 36 times over the years, working in shelters, feeding, and staffing. She even offered help at the 9/11 site on two different occasions.

Lundblad says one of her proudest moments was when she saved a woman’s life while on deployment at a Virginia hurricane. “Her leg looked terrible, her foot was all swollen, I told her, ‘you need to go to the hospital,'” Lundblad explains.

“I didn’t see her for three days, and I thought ‘uh oh.’ But she came out of her house the fourth day, and she said, ‘you come to the back of the truck,’ and she thanked me, and bear hugged me, and then she gave me another one, and I said, ‘what’s that for?’ And she said, ‘the doctor said to hug you, you saved my life.’”

Lundblad is dedicated to the Red Cross, much like many more volunteers.

“Volunteers are everything, we cannot perform our service delivery without volunteers,” says Fuller.

To find out how you can help you, visit the Red Cross website.