Area Red Cross Volunteer Honored

A local volunteer with the Red Cross was honored Wednesday morning for his commitment to helping others.

John Ligon received the Violet Knupp award.

Bill Knupp of BB & T Barnes Insurance presented the award, which is named for his mother.

“She was the chapter exec for the Red Cross,” said Sarah Dow, Interim Regional Development Officer for the Western Carolinas Region of the American Red Cross.

Knupp said his mother worked with the area Red Cross chapters from the 1960s to the 1980s.

“She operated the Red Cross office out of their basement,” Dow said.

During the Vietnam War, Violet Knupp did a lot of military casework.

“We got numerous phone calls, 24-7, trying to get military personnel back here that had a family member pass away or at the point of death or something of that nature,” Bill Knupp said. “You never know when you would get a call. My mother would have to talk to commanding officers and get approval for that.”

Ligon said when a death in the family occurs, the service member can tell their commanding officer and request leave for the funeral.

“The military, through the Red Cross, confirms that information,” he said. “Once the Red Cross confirms it, then the person can get emergency leave to go home for the funeral or whatever the situation is.”

Dow said nowadays everything's computerized.

“Now it's instantaneous, our caseworkers verify, they type the information in and send the message and it goes through the system,” she said.

“It was all done by telephone back then,” Knupp said.

“I can't even imagine, so much more complicated,” Dow said. “It just takes longer. You're operating on a tight timeline when there's soldiers in the field. There's maybe only one flight in a week and they know it leaves within the next 24 hours.”

“You've got to get them out of the field and to the flight,” Ligon said. “It's a major evolution to make something like that happen.”

His mother was also heavily involved in blood drives, especially in the Clemson area, Bill said.

“She had a lot of volunteers that would come and help,” he said. “That was an all-day affair.”

Violet Knupp “used to do it all,” Dow said.

“To wear that many hats, it was a lot,” she said.

“And it was considered a part-time position,” Knupp said. “She started out volunteering and worked her way into a part-time position, but it was really a full-time position.”

'I was told you have done a tremendous amount of service over the last eight years with the Red Cross,” Knupp told Ligon. “You've been involved in about 18 different operations around the country.”

“I joined the Red Cross the day Katrina hit New Orleans,” Ligon said. “I go around the country. I enjoy it.”

Locally, Ligon is involved in coordinating emergency shelters when needed.

“Your skills, being able to work with people, leadership skills, administrative skills, have served you very well,” Knupp said. “We just want to give you this award. We appreciate the work that you've done through the Red Cross and the great organization it is and what it does to help families in need, not only around the world, but here locally.”

The award thanks Ligon for his tireless efforts on behalf of the American Red Cross.

“'You have brought hope to those who serve,'” Knupp read.

“I feel honored to receive this in your mother's name,” Ligon said.