From the Hub and From the Heart: Jeanetta Davis

When Jeanetta Davis needed assistance 24 years ago, she came to the American Red Cross.  Lucky for our organization, Jeanetta stayed, citing one of the American Red Cross’ slogans as the initial reason: “Get to know us before you need us.”  Jeanetta made certain that she “got to know” the American Red Cross first by volunteering in Emergency Services and Disaster Relief, then eventually taking on a receptionist position on December 12, 1990, a date she still remembers fondly.  Jeanetta was in between work and looking for a way to help her community and thought of Red Cross as “the perfect place to help change a life, to help touch a life.”

Through her nearly 20 years of tenure at the front desk of the Washtenaw County American Red Cross, Jeanetta Davis has warmly greeted people from all walks of life to this chapter.  Following the disasters of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, Jeanetta remembers an “outpouring of togetherness with no color, no status, just people wanting to help.”  In the hours and days after 9/11, she recalls an overly crowded Blood Services Center, buckets and buckets of monetary donations, receiving over 1,000 calls per day, and so many volunteers signing up for training that it was difficult to input all of the data.  “People cared,” Jeanetta reminisces, “and they just wanted to help.”

A self-described “people person,” Jeanetta’s compassion, resourcefulness, commitment, and sincerity help in making volunteers, employees, and guests to our chapter feel welcome as soon as they walk through the door.  Longtime Red Cross Health & Safety Services Director Sherri Olson-Roberts explained Jeanetta’s integral role at the Red Cross, “For as long as I can remember, Jeanetta has been known as ‘the hub’ of the Washtenaw County Red Cross.”  In addition to representing the Red Cross at the front desk, Jeanetta used to enjoy training people, worked in health and safety and blood services, and even did premarital counseling.  Jeanetta calls her time working for the Red Cross “a wonderful privilege.”  In expressing her great gratitude to the organization, Jeanetta says she will miss working at Red Cross, but will continue to volunteer because “once you’re a Red Cross member, you’re always a Red Cross member.

Though working for the Red Cross was challenging at times, Jeanetta believes the good always outweighed the bad and encourages people everywhere to get involved with the organization. Representing the American Red Cross for 19 years, Jeanetta Davis found her niche, balancing professionalism with a good-natured attitude, maintaining optimism during the most heart-wrenching of times, and helping the Red Cross fulfill its visionary mission with grace and dignity. 

Donna Duvin, Washtenaw County Chapter’s CEO, said it best:  “For me, I will always see Jeanetta’s smile greeting me as I enter this building.  Her warm and caring presence brightened the day for more than a few of us…and for countless strangers seeking assistance.  On behalf of the Washtenaw County Chapter of the American Red Cross, we can’t thank Jeanetta enough for her many years of outstanding service.  To many, she will always be the face of this Red Cross.”