My mouth literally dropped wide open in disbelief at the ousting of 20-year Greater Edisto Chapter of the American Red Cross Director Cindy Smith as I peered at the headlines of the Oct. 17 edition of The T&D.

I have known Cindy and her husband John, who is the emergency services director for Orangeburg County and has been for 20-plus years, since I first started volunteering in Orangeburg County in 1986 with both the fire/rescue service and as a member of the American Red Cross, for which I was also a board member for 10 years during the 1990s.

Cindy and husband John compose what I refer to as the “Smith Team” for Orangeburg County and have been very vital assets to our county and surrounding counties’ growth in the emergency services, disaster preparedness, disaster response, rescue, etc. Basically anything to do with rescue, emergency or disaster — they have both been at the forefront of and heavily involved in.

They have brought our county from basically a Stone Age approach into application of the most modern techniques, command structure and purchases of equipment that have put our county in the forefront of emergency preparedness statewide.

I am not only speaking as a volunteer that has been involved in the majority of all major county disaster responses over the past 22 years but also from the perspective of a 21-year captain/paramedic with the Savannah River Site Fire Department, chairman of the Greater Edisto Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (GEVOAD) and the S.C. United Methodist Volunteers In Mission (UMVIM) disaster coordinator. I am well trained in professional emergency and disaster preparedness/response and I truly believe that we have had a somewhat “Dream Team” with both Smiths in their positions for the past 20 years. I am dreadfully fearful of what the outcome of such an outlandish decision as the ousting of Cindy from her position will have on Orangeburg, Allendale and Barnwell counties.

Cindy and John have both diligently worked to raise funds to upgrade our outdated or lack of equipment throughout the years. They have feverishly worked for and obtained grants and had fundraisers that have us at a good level of preparedness today. They both put in countless hours of time beyond what is required for their jobs. You could even say they are not only married to one another but also to our counties’ emergency services. They even plan their overdue vacations around special events and come home to help should anything happen. They have spent many sleepless nights helping others during their times of need, manning shelters, command posts and incident scenes. I keep talking of them together because they both have worked so great as a team to build up our county and it literally scares me just how bad of a setback the ousting of Cindy from her position will be on Orangeburg, Barnwell and Allendale counties. I fear that it will not only be devastating, it will surely mean the collapse of the Greater Edisto Chapter of the Red Cross.

Cindy is one of the biggest hearted people I have ever known in my life! She has given, given and given of herself over the years without ever asking for anything in return. Basically, all she has ever received for all of her devoted and selfless work is low pay, headaches, frustration and now to be ousted from her job by Scott Salemme of the Central S.C. Red Cross. I do not know who Mr. Salemme is, but I do know that he and the officials that have made the decision to oust Cindy are wrong and must be living in a fog. It makes me wonder about their leadership and the direction they have for the S.C. Red Cross.

During the March 15 tornadoes that ravaged our state, Cindy and John were on the scene within an hour providing aid, making assessments and directing/calling for additional aid. With the loss of Cindy, a big portion of our county’s emergency response plan has been severed.

I pray that this devastating situation will be reversed before the severed part affects the whole body and causes a fatal effect. I send out a plea to everyone in the counties that Cindy served of Orangeburg, Barnwell and Allendale to flood the American Red Cross with phone calls and letters on her behalf. Cindy has been through so many trying situations with the Red Cross over the years, such as continuously trying to make ends meet or forever tightening budgets, and it has really stressed her out.

She has refused to give up on trying to make ends meet and find the needed aid for needy families over the years. Recently she has been under great stress having been given ultimatums stating that if she did not raise a certain amount of finance, then our local chapter would be closed. Her finances as well as pay and benefits have been cut, and seemingly endless yet unobtainable demands placed upon her. During preparations for Hurricane/Tropical Storm Hanna it was easy to read the stress on Cindy’s face. Not stress from the approaching storm of Hanna but from the storm of frustrations coming from Central Red Cross upon her.

We recently formed a regional Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) titled Greater Edisto VOAD. This was all at the direction and input of Cindy and John. Cindy implemented the first meeting, at which I was named chairman. She has been instrumental in the formation of our VOAD and now I also fear that it may fold without her vital input. Cindy has been a vital part of our county’s emergency/disaster services response for 20 years and now for undisclosed reasons has been ousted from her position. She has stood up for all of us in Orangeburg County throughout the years – it is now time for us to stand up for her!

— William “Billy” R. Robinson Jr.,

North

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