Sheila Brown, of Saugus, could not have seen this happening to her from a mile away.
The American Red Cross hosted an awards ceremony for its volunteers to show appreciation on Saturday. Brown was awarded the “Volunteer Leadership” award, much to her surprise.
“Surprised is a mild way to put it. Shock would probably be more accurate,” Brown said.
Brown has been a part of the Red Cross for 39 years, doing first aid management, and believes that if people can help others, they should do it.
Her work at Red Cross includes overseeing 200 first aid volunteers, delivering first aid and preparedness services to communities all over Los Angeles and helping with events at Red Cross.
She added that she is a very shy person and has never expected people to know what she is doing or any sort of thing like that.
“I don’t ever want or expect any kind of acknowledgement,” Brown said.
Brown was so humbled by the surprise, that even now, she credited her volunteers for her work at Red Cross.
“I feel like my volunteers deserve a little bit of sunshine on them because they are some of the most amazing, dedicated and successful volunteers I have ever known, and I’ve known many of them for almost 40 years,” Brown said.
Brown said she greatly appreciates and honors the service of her volunteers, calling it astonishing – but once again not shining a light on herself.
