When Beverly Paladeni Riter retired from a career in public health in 1995, there were no rocking chairs or fuzzy slippers awaiting her. Instead, the mother of three put her nursing talents to use, volunteering with the American Red Cross and other organizations to provide disaster relief in the US and abroad. 

There was plenty to do. In 2001, Riter coordinated volunteers in support of those who lost family members during the attack on the World Trade Center in New York.  The work was not only heart-breaking but dangerous, too. Toxic dust and smoke swirled around the site for weeks.