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I am so happy that I joined the Red Cross back in 1997 as a volunteer,this program give me the love of helping other that are in need of help. I recieved so much traning under the leadership of Claudia Perez of Bergen-Hudson Chapter.I feel that staff like him made me and other to take pride in helping other I will be an American Red Cross volunteer until the lord call me home.We was there for 911,and the many.I will not forget the Community Impact Adward from the Red Cross at there fifth hero adward breakfast and the many other. I would like to thank the American Red Cross and all the volunteer for making my life and other life adwarding.

Remembering Jane W. Bente

Jane taught herself braille over 40 years ago and went on to become certified by the Library of Congress. In 1976, after many years of volunteer work she became the Director of the Braille Department at the American Red Cross of Northern New Jersey. Jane was instrumental in transitioning the department from using braillewriters to computer-generated braille, and modernizing every aspect of producing braille materials from transcribing to production and binding. Her department produced textbooks not only for New Jersey students, but also students throughout the United States and abroad, in places such as Africa and Guam. The Braille Department now produces approximately 1.3 million pages of braille each year. In December 2001, the American Red Cross dedicated the Braille Department in Jane's honor renaming it the Jane Bente Braille Center. She was most definitely a pioneer in her field, and will be greatly missed!

I started volunteering at the Red Cross Braille Dept when I was nine. My grandparents brought me in to volunteer over summer break every year until Jane Bente offered me my first summer job. I worked in Braille throughout high school and college. It was always nice to be able to say to people that my job was to help make Braille textbooks for blind and visually impaired children nationwide. In some ways, I grew up in the Red Cross Braille Dept. I will always be grateful for the opportunity Jane gave me and for the many rewarding experiences I had there. That is why I still go back there every year over my summer break from teaching.