Abigail Anderson inspired by Red Cross founder's servant leadership

Abigail Anderson poses at the Red Cross of Central land Northeast Missouri office where she serves as executive director.
Abigail Anderson poses at the Red Cross of Central land Northeast Missouri office where she serves as executive director.

Editor's note: This year is the 100-year anniversary of Zonta International, a nonprofit organization that fights for women's equality while providing a plethora of services to communities in dozens of countries. To commemorate the milestone, the Jefferson City Chapter of Zonta and the News Tribune partnered to highlight seven local women each day this week who have been inspired by women at all levels, from well-known international figures to Capital City mentors. These local women have gone on to inspire community members and make a difference in Jefferson City or beyond.

In the hours and days after the May 22 tornado, volunteers and employees with the Red Cross of Central and Northern Missouri were on the ground offering assistance and supplies.

Servant leadership is a characteristic Abigail Anderson admired in American Red Cross founder Clara Barton, and she plans to continue to find ways to serve her community's needs.

Anderson is the director of the Red Cross of Central and Northern Missouri, helping oversee operations like disaster preparedness, response and recovery, as well as training, armed forces and international services. The Red Cross of Central and Northern Missouri covers 27 counties, extending from the Iowa border down to Fort Leonard Wood.

The International Committee of the Red Cross primarily helps individuals impacted by war, but after the Civil War ended, Clara Barton still saw a need for those services. She started the American Red Cross in 1881 to help those impacted by natural disasters.

While Barton had political and religious preferences, Anderson said, Barton set those aside to help those in need, whether they be rich or poor or a Union or Confederate soldier.

Barton established some of American Red Cross' core values as collaboration, unity, compassion and neutrality, standards that are applicable even 137 years later.

"Whenever a disaster happens like the (May 22) tornado in Jefferson City, we don't blur the lines and say, 'We're only going to serve a certain type of person,'" said Anderson, who has been a Zonta member for about a year.

Disasters do not discriminate so the American Red Cross shouldn't either, she added.

"That tornado could have landed anywhere in the city, but the fact it landed where it did and it impacted folks on various ends of the spectrum - you think of the president of Lincoln University was hit by the tornado, she was equally impacted as those lower socio-economic folks who were also hit in the city," Anderson said. "So, the tornado didn't pick and choose a neighborhood. It just happens so we're equally vulnerable to disasters, so just being able to serve wholeheartedly."

Especially important to Anderson, Barton never backed down from her mission in life even when other people questioned the American Red Cross' role.

"She didn't just sit behind a desk and bark orders," Anderson said. "What she did is got out in the field and served with her volunteers. She loved doing this, and she had that very compassionate way about her that made people want to be better and serve more people."

The Jefferson City Chapter of Zonta will host its annual 5K Superhero Stride at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 26 at Memorial Park, 111 Memorial Drive. Check-in will begin at 7:30 a.m.

Pre-registration cost $25, while registration the day of the event is $30. Members of the Jefferson City Roadrunners can register for $20, and a team of five participants can register for $100.

Participants can register online by visiting zontajcmo.org or by downloading a form to mail to the local Zonta chapter at 1030 Westwood Drive.

Zonta members encouraged participants to register by Monday to receive a shirt for the 5K Superhero Stride.

The proceeds will go to the Zonta International Foundation so the foundation can continue its global equality efforts, such as reducing the risk of HIV/AIDS through health education and increasing educational opportunities and vocational skills training for women.