20 Years, 20 Stories – Andy Anthony – From Disaster to Service
20 Years, 20 Stories – Andy Anthony – From Disaster to Service
Years Active: 2008 – Present
Major disasters change lives. The ripples move from those who experienced the disaster to those who witnessed it, to those who heard about it or saw images from the scenes. 9/11 was one of those types of events and for Andy Anthony the events forced him to challenge himself with, “Why am I watching others suffer?”
Andy reflects on his childhood and sees times when he wished there had been someone available to help him during difficult times. “There wasn’t anyone,” he said, “and everyone should have someone that shows they care, even if that someone is a total stranger. Unconditional caring. People need that. I volunteer to be that someone for others at times.”
The historic event inspired a search for ways to help others which became a journey that, in 2008, landed him with TEXSAR. “The appreciation of those who are helped feeds me.” he said. “Knowing that someone will live better or have a longer life because of some work that TEXSAR volunteers performed is incredibly rewarding. That applies to our K9s, too. I remember a woman that we found thanked my dog, not me, for finding her. As it should be.”
During most of his life, Andy was an indoor person, by his own description. From 2001, when he felt the call, to 2008 when he joined TEXSAR, he became more and more of an outdoor person, learning to work in the variety of environments that volunteers find themselves in.
“There are positive outcomes, but sometimes we have positive impacts with negative outcomes, and the dogs are often a part of that.” Andy recalls the woman whose husband was found by TEXSAR members after he committed suicide. “She went to every car that had a volunteer and thanked them personally. She told us that she was glad that he was not out there alone anymore.”
He began working with K9s in 2015. “I love working with my dog. Dogs don’t look at people’s flaws. They make their people partners better teammates. Our K9s become extensions of ourselves,” he said. His current job involves security using his four-legged teammate for bomb detection.
Team members are great, Andy believes. “We work to make a difference in people’s lives, not for our own egos. We can sometimes be a bright spot in the struggles of other people’s lives.” He believes much of the success of the team approach is because of the kindred mindset and quality training that enables members to click as a team immediately, whether the members have worked together previously or not.
TEXSAR members are scattered around Texas and sometimes travels hundreds of miles to get to where a mission requires their skills and expertise. Andy speaks to the time requirements of training and traveling. “Some volunteer work is time structured. There are specific hours when you serve. With TEXSAR, we don’t know how long a mission will last. I encourage people who are thinking about it to consider the time for training and missions, and the challenges commitments present to family obligations and relationships. It is not for everyone, but it is for those who find service as a way to let people know that total strangers care about them in their times of need.”
Learn more about TEXSAR at www.TEXSAR.org.
TEXSAR: 20 Years, 20 Stories, is a series of people-centric stories that celebrate the history of TEXSAR’s heroics and humanity as its volunteers continue their mission of ‘Texans helping Texans’ with Service above Self. The sequence of stories and profiles come together in 2024, the nonprofit’s 20th anniversary year.
