Dedicated Oklahoman Volunteers for Red Cross

By Jon Jordan, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY – May has been a devastating month for some Oklahomans. So far this year the National Weather service confirms 54 tornadoes have touched down and that number could increase as surveyors take a closer look at the damage.

Through it all, Oklahomans are once again showing they are generous people and stepping up to help with the cleanup.

There is no denying it takes passion and hard work to be a volunteer for the Red Cross and it might make things a little more difficult, but one volunteer isn't letting a disability slow him down.

Not only does Jerry White have one arm and continue to volunteer day in and day out he'll also be the first to tell you he's not the youngest kid on the block anymore. But, for a man who was looking to fill a void it's safe to say he's found a home with the Red Cross.

Fresh off putting in long hours volunteering in Yazoo, Mississippi, an area devastated by an EF-4 tornado,

67-year-old White rushed straight to Oklahoma City with the Red Cross to help Oklahomans also recovering from the destruction left behind from a handful of tornadoes.

"My personality is not one that can sit on a creek bank or in front of a TV set," White said.

What makes White's passion to continue to work well into retirement age even more remarkable, is that he does is all with just one arm.

"Just because a chicken gets his wings clipped, doesn't mean he still can't run," White said.

And since losing his arm more than 30 years ago White hasn't stopped running.

"A doctor told me years ago, 'you are handicapped in one place, and that's in your mind,'" White said.

Living with that kind of mentality combined with his desire to help others is something that stems from his background in the military. White says volunteering his time with the Red Cross has been a perfect fit.

"It helps your self esteem, your values," said White. "You feel like you're contributing something and everyone needs to do that."

And now in his sixth year, officials with the Red Cross say the work White does as a full-time volunteer is hard to find.

"They start to really understand the basics and more advanced stuff of what's going on," Taylor Kelling with Red Cross Public Affairs said.

And for a man who has faced challenges throughout his life, when asked if there was anything White would change, his answer was, 'nothing.'"

"This is my way, I love it," said White. "I enjoy it and if people get help in the process will so much the better."