Lisa Karpinski: Getting Help and Giving Back

Lisa Karpinski, third from left, with fellow responders.

By Alice Ding

When Superstorm Sandy hit the Rockaways, Lisa Karpinski, her husband, and their two children (who were 12- and 14-years old when Sandy hit), lost all their belongings as their house filled with more than five feet of water.

A friend directed Lisa to Beach 129th Street to receive help from the American Red Cross, which had an emergency response vehicle stationed there. “The Red Cross provided me with food and a home cleanup kit,” Lisa said.

Before receiving help from the Red Cross, Lisa knew nothing about the organization. Now, she is one of the Greater New York Region’s most enthusiastic volunteers.

“I saw two Red Crossers, one from California and one from Texas, constantly during Sandy as I kept going back for meals and became friends with them,” Lisa recalled. She said that later, when she was making career changes, one of them suggested she become a volunteer herself.

Lisa, who started volunteering in April 2013, says she wanted to give back to the Red Cross because it helped her during a difficult time. She usually works the 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. response shift. During her shift, Lisa goes to disaster scenes — mostly fires — and provides assistance to those affected.

While on the way to a disaster, Lisa and her fellow volunteers discuss possible resources and the best way to respond to each individual situation. Lately, she’s been learning how to assess disasters more efficiently, as the Greater New York Red Cross shifts to a new computer program that will help responders.

Lisa shared that the best part of her Red Cross volunteer experience is meeting and supporting disaster survivors. “I really like talking to people affected by disasters and helping them. I get a lot of satisfaction out of that.”

Lisa has made great friends with others at the Red Cross. “People here are friendly. We go out and grab a bite when we have time,” she said. Although the Red Crosser volunteers who initially helped her during Sandy have returned to their chapters in other parts of the country, Lisa remains in contact with them through social media.

“People working here really care about those they are helping,” Lisa said. It is that culture of caring she saw during Sandy that drew Lisa to volunteer for the Red Cross — and one that she now helps spread to others in need. 

New York Volunteer Passionate About Helping People

“If you try it just one day, you’d understand.”

That’s how 28-year-old Zullyvette Feliciano describes volunteering with the American Red Cross.

“Most of my friends don’t volunteer at all and they don’t understand,” she said. “But when you see the appreciation in someone’s face that you’ve helped, it’s out of this world.”

Feliciano, who works full time at a New York hospital, has been a volunteer with the Greater New York Red Cross region for more than two years. Her dedication to public service has even driven her to use her own vacation time to help out in times of disaster.

“I went to Catholic school growing up and always had volunteer projects, so it’s always been a part of me,” Feliciano said. “If you have the ability to help, you should.”

As a volunteer with the Greater New York emergency response team, Feliciano helps people affected by everyday disasters like house fires, providing them with food, clothing, lodging, emotional support and other assistance as needed.

“Everyone is always so warm and grateful for what we do,” she said.

When Superstorm Sandy made landfall, Feliciano navigated her way from her home in the Bronx to regional headquarters in Manhattan to help any way she could. Her dedication prompted her to spend the night on a cot in an empty office cubicle on the building’s fourth floor, along with dozens of other Red Cross volunteers. She awoke the next day to continue volunteering.

As part of a Red Cross team, Feliciano began conducting damage assessments in some of the hardest-hit areas. She also drove a mobile feeding truck through the streets of the Rockaways, distributing food to those who had lost their homes.
“Everyone was so happy to see us,” she said.

Feliciano even pitched in and answered phone calls in the emergency communications center at Greater New York headquarters in the weeks following Sandy. At the time, the center was receiving thousands of calls each day.

Feliciano earned her master’s degree in environmental and occupational health sciences in 2009. Today, she is back at her full-time job, but her passion for helping brings her back to the Red Cross almost every Saturday, where she continues to assist those impacted by everyday disasters like house fires.

“I get way more back than what I give,” Feliciano said.