Who among us serves the Red Cross as:

• a Blood Donor Ambassador,
• a Disaster Action Team 鈥滵AT鈥� responder 鈥� 24-hour on-call for local disaster relief such as fires in Bucks, Delaware and Philadelphia counties
• a Red Cross smoke alarm installer
• a pastor deploying far away to mass care shelters to provide spiritual support to disaster victims?

听

Enter Kenneth 鈥淜en鈥� Soondar.

Ken recently earned a volunteer recognition award through five years of action. But what is equally remarkable is his perfect background fit for each type 听of volunteerism. Working for nearly 40-years as a blood testing veteran in Philadelphia-area hospital labs, Ken has covered each test variety (e.g., coagulation, urine, and microbiology).

His professional experience organizing blood labs ensures the 听Red Cross鈥� careful system is upheld. Matching daily blood donor鈥檚 profiles with each bottles鈥� correct label begins the intricate Red Cross system to test and distribute the area鈥檚 bona fide blood supply to hospitals. (It鈥檚 no small feat involving dozens of volunteers and compensated staffers). Blood collections are primary, but Ken鈥檚 typical blood drive day brings camaraderie with plasma and platelet donors as well. He says he enjoys "the people and the challenge."

But then there are local emergencies like fires. If families have smoke alarms, odds are greater to survive a fire than if no smoke alarms are present. Then what? Many families do not have rental insurance 鈥� and lose everything.

Ken comes through to meet the people with only the clothes on their backs. Surely, helping those souls drew Ken to attend the free Red Cross smoke alarm installation events. Yes, he does both: (1) Both helping the fire victims and (2) preventing other potential fires with free smoke alarm installations and fire safety education. It鈥檚 Ken鈥檚 modus operandi when he is not serving as a church pastor.

Ken鈥檚 pastor background further underscores his generous Red Cross volunteerism in other states. The widespread community-leveling disasters (e.g., tornadoes, wildfires, earthquakes) need Red Cross volunteers from around the nation to meet the intense needs. While we see the disasters on news playbacks, Ken is on location. Recently, Ken was on location during the Los Angeles wildfires.

A two-week minimum with the possibility to run six weeks, deployment disasters involve Ken catching planes and staying in multiple hotels. Sometimes renewing his stay in these spots where individuals have lost homes, cars, jobs, family and friends, this volunteerism is platinum-level support to humanity. Ken brandishes his heart of gold offering pastoral support. Red Cross volunteer healthcare professionals provide medical and even mental health assistance听to these individuals right in Ken鈥檚 midst.

In 1969, meeting his wife in healthcare school, the two people were united. But that union left Trinidad, their origin country losing two superheroes. Philadelphia is extraordinarily lucky to have them here.

During part of my interview, one finished the sentence of the other. Both volunteer for the Red Cross. Anyone reading this: Do they even have couples as dedicated to community anymore?

If that was not enough, Ken was on site in the days and weeks after the tragic Northeast Philadelphia plane crash, working with emergency responders and providing pastoral care to those impacted.

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- Written by Robert Ambrose