Diane Knight, Pikes Peak Chapter, Colorado Springs

Diane Knight volunteers as a swim instructor at the American Red Cross Pikes Peak Chapter in Colorado Springs, CO.

I volunteer because I love the Red Cross programs and mission. For the past 35 years, I have been teaching Red Cross swimming, life-guarding, CPR/First Aid, and training others to be Red Cross instructors. Teaching others is a way I can give back to the Pikes Peak community. I can make people see they are there for an important reason ... to save lives.

As a Red Cross swim instructor, I have had many wonderful, heartwarming experiences. Once I met a young boy who wanted to take swimming lessons. This would not be unusual, except that he was on oxygen. We figured a way for him to have a long tube that extended into the pool so he could still get oxygen. He learned to swim on his back and what to do to save himself if he fell into the water. This was an exciting, huge moment for him, his parents, and me.

Another time, I taught a woman who was terrified of getting in the water. Years back, she had almost drowned in a bathtub, and was now afraid of suffocating. I gained her trust, and she learned something she never thought she would do - to float on her back in the water. Trust was the key. You can never compromise trust. If you can help others, it makes you feel good and is a reward in itself.

I have been passionate about the Red Cross since I was five years old when my mother enrolled me in a beginner swim class. My enthusiasm has just kept growing. It was especially fun when I took a Red Cross canoeing class in the mid-west and learned how to turn and avoid objects in the water, like hogs that were cooling themselves in the river!

 Read more "Why I Help" stories
 Read about the 2008 American Red Cross ad campaign, "Change a Life"