New Red Cross Chapter Executive Knows Polk County
 
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| Laureen Martinez, Chief Public Relations Officer, and Phil Attinger, Communications Specialist |
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January 26, 2010
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(Winter Haven, FL) — The American Red Cross Mid-Florida Region is proud to announce Chad Magnuson as the new Polk County Chapter Executive. Magnuson replaces long-time Red Cross executive Tom Costello.
Magnuson didn’t have to go far, a Polk County resident, he comes from the Tampa Bay Chapter where he served as Regional Emergency Services Director for three years.
He started work Monday, Jan. 11, just as a sinkhole threatened to swallow a house and nearby mobile home community in Frostproof, FL, and the Chapter was responding almost daily to house fires.
Magnuson was looking for excitement years ago when he graduated from Florida Southern College and hoped to “travel the world.” Since then, he has logged a world of experience with the American Red Cross and hopes to put that experience to work as the new Chapter Executive helping the Polk County Chapter to “take care of the people we serve.”
He first considered working for the American Red Cross when he interviewed at National Headquarters in Washington, D.C., in the late 1990’s. He started working with the Red Cross years later in February 2001 with Service to Armed Forces (SAF), helping provide emergency communications between soldiers and their families. Seven short months later, on Sept. 11, his SAF station at Fort Sill, OK, was fielding calls from concerned families about loved ones at the Pentagon.
“It was stressful, uncertain. There was not a lot of information we could provide,” Magnuson said. “But we did give families a sense of reassurance. A whole lot of people were really scared.”
From there he served at SAF stations in Kosovo; Ft. Stewart, GA; Baghdad, Iraq; and Stuttgart, Germany. By 2004, he wanted to expand his Red Cross experience and became the Assistant Emergency Services Director at the American Red Cross of Central Florida in Orlando – where his wife’s family lives.
He arrived in Orlando in November 2004, and went right into the middle of helping clients in the midst of long-term recovery from that season’s hurricanes. Magnuson loved jumping right into it and working closely with the volunteers.
From there, he made the move to Lakeland where he resides today.
“Polk County Chapter is known for quality service delivery, dedicated volunteers, and great response to disasters,” Magnuson said. “We need to express that high level of passion and professionalism to all parts of the community.”
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The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies nearly half of the nation's blood; teaches lifesaving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization — not a government agency — and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit www.midfloridaredcross.org. |
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