For some people, retirement means slowing down. For Peggy Gaines, it meant finding a new way to serve. After spending 31 years as an educator in the St. Joseph School District, Peggy could have easily settled into a quieter life. Instead, she became a volunteer with the American Red Cross and began a second chapter that would take her from house fires in Northwest Missouri to some of the largest disasters in the country and beyond. Today, Peggy Gaines is the August 2026 recip
