Whether wielding an imaginary fire hose, pretending to fight a blaze, or dreaming of playing football in front of a roaring crowd, young Leo Perreault always pictured himself in heroic roles. But as child’s play gave way to high-school algebra and biology, two of his strong suits, he began to consider careers in accounting or engineering. The downtrodden 7-year-old inside of him surely had a sugar-high-like reaction when Perreault accepted a U.S. Army scholarship while in school at the Citadel.
It wasn’t the thrill of military life that attracted the adult he had become, however. “First of all, it definitely helped with the cost of my education, and second, I knew my active duty time would be a great way to get some leadership experience,” he said. Eventually, Perreault was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division where he was a part of the Signal Corps, the communications branch. The military gave him real world experience to go along with the electronics and communications courses that had intrigued him during school. “The wireless industry was just getting ready to explode when I left the military, and I saw it as a great opportunity to be involved in a dynamic industry,” he said.
Thus began a career with Verizon Wireless, and its predecessor, Alltel, that’s spanned 19 years. The game’s changed immensely since Perreault first began, and along the way there have been too many high points to count, he said. The lowest: watching the devastation unfold as Katrina hit Louisiana and Mississippi and flooded New Orleans.
“It was completely unbelievable, the amount and level of destruction,” Perreault said. “It really just left you speechless.” As with many disaster situations, Verizon responded not only by ensuring that its network was fully operational, but also by setting up calling stations and adding coverage where necessary to increase the capacity for voice and data by customers and emergency response personnel, like the American Red Cross. His role wasn’t to provide bravery on the front lines like he dreamed of doing as a kid, but he is a modern-day superhero of sorts. In emergency situations, response time is only as good as the ability to communicate, and as the executive director-network for Verizon’s South Central Region, few people feel more pressure to ensure the free flow of information than he does.
But Katrina sparked an idea within him; he could do more to help people affected by disasters. “Verizon Wireless and the Red Cross put a great deal of effort into being prepared for any emergency situation, so it seemed a natural fit to get involved,” Perreault said. He did so three years ago and currently serves as the Philanthropy Chairperson for the American Red Cross of Greater Arkansas.
His overall concern is the financial wellbeing of the Red Cross in Arkansas to ensure it has the funds to continue providing around-the-clock disaster relief, emergency military communications and the ability to keep its disaster teams properly equipped and trained. Funding is also used to keep its Health & Safety and Disaster education instructors supplied with the tools they need to continue their lifesaving courses to tens of thousands of Arkansans of all ages annually. “To me, this is one very small way of helping a great organization deliver on its mission of helping people in their time of need,” he said.
His sentiments lack any of the grandeur the 7-year-old inside might have liked to inject, but that little person is still a part of Perreault. It’s just that as an adult, he no longer “looks up” to people, he admires them.
“The real heroes of the Red Cross are the employees and volunteers that get the call at 2 a.m., put on their Red Cross jacket and respond to the residential fire, or the volunteers that get a call that there has been a disaster three hours away and an emergency shelter needs to be established as soon as possible,” he said. “These caring individuals are the superheroes.”