When Kathy Hornstuen received the American Red Cross Clara Barton Spirit of Excellence award, the reason was no mystery.

“If any of you know Kathy, you will know how phenomenal she is,” said Alison Doty, development coordinator for the Oregon Pacific Chapter, at a luncheon to honor Everyday Heroes of Coos County at the Coos Bay Public Library last week.

“I don’t have a regular job,” said Hornstuen, 56. “I’m a volunteer maniac. That’s what my friends call me.”

Hornstuen, a Charleston resident for 30 years, raised four children there, all of whom graduated from Marshfield High School. She is vice president of the Charleston Community Enhancement Corp., a nonprofit that funds and organizes beautification projects. She is an avid gardener. At the same time, Hornstuen has managed to squeeze in volunteering for several agencies and organizations involved in public safety.

“I love doing prevention education of all different types,” she said. “I love to teach.”

Hornstuen has joined forces with the American Red Cross for the past few years as a CPR and first aid instructor and a member of the Disaster Action Team. As a team member she stands prepared for local fires, floods or other disasters. As a teacher, she has spoken to groups of adults, at-risk teens and elementary school students. She was told the instruction she gave the teens enabled them to get jobs more easily. She shows a cartoon film about tsunami preparedness to both adult and young students.

“What it teaches is you don’t have to be afraid of a disaster,” Hornstuen said. “You just need to know what to do.”

When she became a volunteer for the American Red Cross, Hornstuen brought with her years of experience in public safety. She is a volunteer firefighter with Millington Rural Fire Protection District, where she is the Emergency Medical Services coordinator. She has been a member of the Southwestern Oregon Public Safety Association, and its secretary of communications for 10 years. The association is a cooperative group of about 50 different agencies and organizations. Its purpose is to keep fire departments informed of what other departments have to offer.

“It’s important to make sure firefighters know each other and what equipment each department has,” Hornstuen said. “We need to know, ‘Do our hoses match? Do we have the right equipment?’”

Another of her responsibilities is to collect items from the various agencies to use for free samples at safety fairs.

“I really believe when people learn safety it saves lives,” Hornstuen said. “If I leave any legacy in this work, it’s safety education.”

Organization hopes to carry on community tradition

Many businesses and individuals were honored in the first American Red Cross Everyday Heroes of Coos County contest in several years, but organizers are trying to increase participation. They are trying to rekindle the tradition, and find even more of the community’s unsung heroes.

This year, people and organizations were honored for volunteering and for donating to the American Red Cross.

Next year, the nonprofit organization hopes to receive more nominations of people in the community. Candidates can include firefighters, members of the military, veterans, educators, community volunteers, sponsors or animal rescuers, for example.

American Red Cross Director Jim Caplan, of the Oregon Pacific Chapter South District, said he would like to see a Friends of the Red Cross group formed, and more volunteers and donations. At the Everyday Heroes awards luncheon at the Coos Bay Public Library last week, Caplan said the local district has lost more than half its contributors since 2002. He said volunteers take courses to learn how to help others during a disaster, either in this community or elsewhere across the nation.

“By next year, I’d like to see ranks of volunteers double what they are today,” Caplan said.

For more information on how to donate to or join the local chapter of the American Red Cross, call (541) 673-3255.

Volunteer coordinator honored

Collecting blood at blood drives also is a function of the American Red Cross. Rachel Frank, 53, is now in a paid position as the Blood Services volunteer coordinator for Coos, Curry and Douglas counties, but she once was a volunteer. She is one of this year’s recipients of the Spirit of Excellence as a Community Volunteer award.

At last week’s luncheon, Frank said collecting 20 pints of blood at a blood drive can save up to 60 lives.

“You go home and you know you did that,” she said.