Area Red Cross Director Dedicated to Mission of Helping Community

Stephanie Fost can’t picture life any other way.

‘I can’t imagine ever stepping out of the nonprofit world,’ said Fost, executive director of the local chapter of the American Red Cross. ‘I will always work in a human services role.’

Fost, who oversees the organization’s activities in several central Pennsylvania counties, is dedicated to the Red Cross mission of service to the community including organizing blood drives and responding to disasters.

‘Most people don’t realize they’ve been impacted by the Red Cross,’ she said. ‘They don’t know what we do.’

Born and raised in rural Fulton County, Fost said she learned to have empathy for people from her experiences as a youngster on the farm.

‘It was the small-town mentality,’ she said. ‘There is a certain naive quality where we believe in the best in people. We believe in doing for your neighbors and community.’

A graduate of Southern Fulton High School, Fost spent seven years in Knoxville, Tenn., graduating from the University of Tennessee with a degree in advertising and a minor in business.

She worked for the Knoxville News Sentinel until 2006.

She married her childhood sweetheart, Brooks, that same year.

‘We met in kindergarten and were high school sweethearts,’ she said. At the time, Brooks was working for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

In 2007, Fost and her husband moved to State College so he could earn his doctorate at Penn State.

Fost worked for the Centre Daily Times, followed by a stint at Penn State, then, in 2011, she became division director for the American Heart Association, providing services to Blair, Cambria, Somerset and Centre counties.

In 2014, she left for the American Red Cross. Her position includes managing fundraising and volunteer recruitment, organizing blood drives, responding to crises and leading a team of eight.

It is clear that Fost truly loves her job. ‘I am happy to be able to facilitate the passions of our volunteers,’ she said. ‘When I talk to families that have been helped, it makes it all worthwhile.’

Another job she relishes is being mom to a fiery redhead named Linden. Being a good parent is very important to Fost.

An avid outdoors person, she loves to garden. In the future, she hopes to have a farm that will allow her and Brooks to raise their children in the same rural environment that served them so well as children.