A Red Cross Family Legacy

By Ashley Henyan

In February 2018, when Jordan Rodgers accepted a position as the Volunteer Services Manager for the Red Cross Los Angeles Region, she was excited to fulfill her life-long goal: to work closely with volunteers at a global humanitarian organization.

Jordan’s great-grandfather Neil’s certificate from the American Red Cross – dated March 31, 1946.

What she did not know at the time, was that a passion for the mission of the Red Cross was already alive, within her own family’s history—extending back to post World War II Germany, when her great-grandfather Neal, his wife Thelma, and their daughter Joann (Jordan’s grandmother) moved from the U.S. to Germany. The move allowed Neal to continue his career as a Field Director within the American Red Cross society and Thelma, the opportunity to continue to serve as a volunteer nurse with the Red Cross.

In 1950, Jordan’s grandmother, who was not yet 20 years old and engaged to be married at the time, was excited, and nervous, to leave her life and future husband, and move overseas. But because of her parent’s commitment to the American Red Cross, she went to Germany—sleeves up, hearts open, all in. Once in Germany, it wasn’t long before she was wooed by Lee, a man who was stationed there as a lab assistant with the U.S. Army. Shortly thereafter,

A thank you letter to Jordan’s great-grandfather for his extraordinary service – dated April 16, 1945.

JoAnn broke off her engagement and married Lee—the man who would one day become Jordan’s grandfather. Essentially, Jordan would not be alive today if it wasn’t for the American Red Cross!

The mission of the Red Cross has always spoken to Jordan. But now, after accepting a job with the Red Cross and learning her family’s legacy from her grandmother, Jordan now feels even more connected to the mission – and

even more driven to make a difference with her role at the Red Cross in Los Angeles.

“Even from day one, I felt very welcomed into the Red Cross family. But, learning that my family has had ties to the Red Cross for nearly a century really hit it home for me. It seems the move to continue my career with the Red Cross was not only a part of my family’s legacy, it also feels like it has always been a part of my own personal destiny.”

If you are a Red Cross volunteer in Los Angeles and haven’t met Jordan, you most likely will—especially as she oversees all adult and youth volunteer recruiting, on-boarding and engagement activities within the Los Angeles Region.