James Bordonaro spent 3 years in the United States Navy where he benefited from the services of the Red Cross, sending emergency messages to his family back in the U.S. This set the stage for an exciting relationship with the organization. James currently lives in Tampa, Florida and works for the American Red Cross as a Service to Armed Forces Regional Program Specialist. He fell in love with the Red Cross when he became a disaster volunteer and as a disaster services technology volunteer.
If you have been at any service location of the American Red Cross during the recent Houston floods, you have likely seen James. As a matter of fact, I personally ran into James at 3 separate locations within as many hours.
In response to the flooding, James took a volunteer assignment as a technology specialist, working behind the scenes to distribute laptops, phones, printers and networking equipment and to support the hardware and software used by the Red Cross.
While James loves working with Armed Forces, IT assignments afford him the opportunity to give back in a different way utilizing skills he acquired in the military and from formal training. “Volunteering as an IT Manager allows me to do something different from my day to day job, James said. In a disaster situation we typically have to build infrastructure and networks from the ground up”. This is very appealing to James and others who serve in this capacity.
With technology quickly becoming the foundation of disaster services field operations and Red Cross infrastructure rapidly changing, it is essential for the Red Cross to continue developing and recruiting volunteers with IT knowledge. If you would like to volunteer as a technology specialist or in any other field please visit us at www.redcross.org or call your local chapter.
Texas Gulf Coast American Red Cross 