TAMPA, Fla. — A Bay area woman was honored with a Volunteer of the Year award for the work she does to help travelers each week at Tampa International Airport. Chrys Remmers volunteers at the Travelers Aid booth at the airport.
On a recent morning, Remmers and volunteer coordinator Beverly Thompson were working together at the booth that looks out at escalators with arriving and departing passengers. Sometimes they can tell if someone needs help just by watching them.
“You can watch their head swivel when they come down the escalator,” she said.
That’s when Remmers and Thompson will ask people if they need help without them having to ask.
“Air Canada’s going to be down this way,” she said to one of the people on the escalator. In another case, a man came up to the booth needing to know where the Uber pick up spot was at the airport.
“Go up this escalator right here and you’ll see a sign on the wall that’ll say Uber and long-term parking,” she said.
Remmers said there are times when she has dealt with people who have serious issues that need to be addressed. In one case, a mother was going to be on a long layover at the airport and she needed formula for her infant.
“I left my shift. Went to Publix. Got her formula and brought it back to the airport for her,” she said, who added that the woman was extremely grateful.
The Travelers Aid booth is part of the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay. There are times when passengers need the center’s intervention.
“Sometimes we have domestic violence situations in the airport, and we do report them to the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay,” she said.
Remmers also trains fellow volunteers and keeps an airport information guide for volunteers organized and updated.
Remmers gets a lot of satisfaction out of her volunteer work.
“It’s very gratifying. Very gratifying,” she said. “I’ve helped people with infant situations. I’ve helped people with death situations. Like trying to get to funerals and stuff like that.”
The Travelers Aid booth is funded in large part by Signature Flight Support.