As we celebrate the 90th Anniversary of the Junior Red Cross, I like to think of the accomplishments of some of today’s youth volunteers. Think of Zack Baker, an eight-year-old volunteer with the Firelands Chapter in Sandsky, Ohio, who cleans manikins, helps at health fairs and even distributed food and flood kits during disasters. Zack is the youngest volunteer ever at the chapter to receive the Woodrow Wilson Award.

Think of 13 year-old Balee Wahl who resides in Somerset, Pennsylvania, located in the Greater Alleghenies Blood Services region. This summer Balee represented the American Red Cross at World Blood Donor Day, an event hosted by the Pan American Health Organization to raise awareness of the need for safe blood around the world.

Think of Annah Grace Barclift, a member of the board of the Lee County Chapter in Opelike, Alabama, who started a Red Cross Club at Auburn University this year. Not only did Annah get 15 students to attend the Club’s first meeting; she convinced one of her communications professors to volunteer as the Club’s faculty advisor.

We can only imagine the contributions these volunteers will have made when we look back 20 years from now. Will Balee Wahl be the next Neal Denton who started as a youth volunteer and is now chief of staff? Perhaps Annah Grace Barclift will be the next Roger Dahl, once a youth volunteer and now executive of the Midwest Service Area. Zack Baker could well be the next Pat O’Donnell, a youth volunteer who rose to become a member of the Board of Governors, and who heads up an entire section at IBM.

There is a common element to the stories of each of the adults I have mentioned—their service as Red Cross youth volunteers shaped their whole lives and led the way to what they are doing now.

I don’t know what Balee and Annah Grace and Zack will be doing in 2027. But there is one thing about which I am certain—Annah Grace and Zack and Balee and each of the more than 290,000 youth volunteers we see today offer a glimpse of the volunteers of tomorrow.

The photos featured in this issue of the Messenger are part of a larger archive collection that is currently on display on a special Junior Red Cross Anniversary Exhibit in Washington, D.C. at the 17th street building.

We would like to say a wholehearted thank you to Tom Goehner, Manager, Historical Outreach, and Susan Robbins Watson, Archivist, Hazel Braugh Records Center and Archives, for their dedicated work.

For additional information on the exhibit and for the 17th street building tours please contact Michelle Risinger, NHQ Tour Program & Historical Support, at RisingerM@usa.redcross.org.