Back The American Red Cross St. Louis Area Chapter hosted its annual Volunteer Award Ceremony recently and recognized outstanding volunteers for their dedicated service. Rick Stevenson, of Chesterfield received the Volunteer of the Year Award, which honors the volunteer with a single most profound impact on Red Cross programs and services over the previous year. Stevenson joined the American Red Cross five years ago, beginning his volunteer work shortly after retiring from a career in commercial real estate. Stevenson began his volunteer service with the local Disaster Action Team and soon was promoted to team leader, responding on the scene of local disasters to assist families in their recovery effort and provide support for emergency personnel. Stevenson has been deployed on four national disaster assignments including service at Ground Zero in the aftermath of Sept. 11. He has served as chair of the Emergency Services Committee of the Board of Directors and has represented the Chapter as a leadership volunteer at various state and national meetings. He was instrumental in developing Prepare Greater St. Louis, a strategic five year initiative to increase individual preparedness and Red Cross readiness throughout the metropolitan area. Most recently, Stevenson helped open an expanded Red Cross client assistance center to accommodate more then 5,700 evacuees following Hurricane Katrina. This center housed the disaster relief operation, which provided emergency food, clothing, shelter and mental health counseling to those who lost their homes in Louisiana and Mississippi. ### This story may be available for an Adobe Acrobat PDF download. Click on the link below to visit the site download center. If a PDF is available, the file will automatically open in your browser.

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