By Jack Campbell, former ARCRA Treasurer and CFO for the American Red Cross

Retirees recently received their Annual Funding Notice. Only retirees still enrolled in the Red Cross retirement plan will receive this notice. If they compare this notice with the prior year, they will see few differences. This is because Red Cross management took no significant actions to transfer vested retiree benefit liabilities and related assets to third parties. (de-risking strategy). Consequently, any changes in the value of assets and liabilities were primarily due to fluctuations in interest rates, asset values and benefit payments, i.e. normal pension activity. As a result, the funding target attainment percentage remained the same as the prior year at 80%.

“It took us four days to get back, due to flight cancellations. We spent a couple nights in Atlanta and finally rented a truck to fill with relief supplies, including a couple chain saws  we’d need to cut our way through downed trees when we returned home to Asheville.” 

When ARCAN member Al Panico and his spouse Robert DeJonckheere found their retirement home in a mountainous cove 10 minutes from downtown Asheville, North Carolina, it seemed the perfect safe and special place to purchase – so stated the national real estate rankings. Then the remnants of Hurricane Helene hit his city.

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It’s easy to understand why American Red Cross alumnus Michael Spencer has returned as a volunteer for the disaster relief organization after a 7-year separation. As he speaks about his memories in the field, his voice almost always seems to be on the edge of laughter. Michael, who is 42, began working for the Red Cross in 1996 as a swim instructor when he was just 14 and did not leave until he was 35 in 2017 after taking on multiple volunteer and staff roles. Today, he still radiates a genuine and contagious enthusiasm for the Red Cross and its work. Yet, sometimes, if you listen closely, you can hear the painful pauses, the part where tears instead of joy are kept at bay...

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“In Afghanistan I stood and counted the number of vehicles that left the base on mission at night – and counted them again when they returned in the morning… hoping they all made it back. Deploying with the military was, without a doubt, the most meaningful work I ever did.”

Q. What can you tell us about your deployments with SAF? 

My SAF deployments were the highlight of my 27-year career with the Red Cross… and that’s saying a lot considering I had many amazing experiences with the organization! I deployed to Afghanistan in 2013, Iraq in 2017, and post-retirement, to Poland in 2022. What an adventure!