Author Archives: redcrossnorcalstaff

No Power, No Problem: Stranded in San Francisco

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Businesses in downtown San Francisco were closed due to the power outage

By Veronica Oberholzer

I love the Christmas season and am always looking for new holiday activities. On Saturday, December 20, I took BART from my home in Oakland to the Yerba Buena Center for the Performing Arts in San Francisco to see a 2 p.m. Christmas Ballet.

The theater was a dark cocoon from the outside world during the beautiful performance. In a funny piece of foreshadowing, I thought that anything could be happening in the world outside, and we wouldn’t know about it until the show was over.

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Red Cross Supports Alliance on Aging with EV Donation 

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By Mark Phillips, board member of the Central Coast Chapter 

The United States is facing a “silver tsunami” as the Baby Boom generation leaves the workforce and begins to enter old age. Based in the heart of California’s Salinas Valley, the nonprofit Alliance on Aging is dedicated to supporting this population in a region that has often been underserved. The American Red Cross, through its Community Adaptation Program (CAP), is proud to support this vital organization with the donation of a Chevrolet BrightDrop electric van that will allow the organization to support vulnerable people during a disaster.

The Chevrolet BrightDrop electric van donated from the American Red Cross to Alliance on Aging.
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Red Cross Volunteers Mobilize Rapid Shelter Response After San José Blaze

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Red Crosser Rux Muys-Stoian (left) with little Isela and her mother Paris. They were happy to find help at the shelter after a fire forced them out of their home. “The meals are what I am thankful for,” Paris said. Photo by Fernando Elias, American Red Cross 

By Diane St. Denis, Disaster Response Operation director 

On September 25, 2025, the Silicon Valley Red Cross Disaster Action Team responded to a 22-unit apartment fire in San José that displaced more than 70 residents. American Red Cross volunteers arrived on the scene to comfort affected residents, while other Red Cross volunteers, in cooperation with the City of San José, opened a shelter at Camden Community Center, offering families a safe place to rest, have warm meals and snacks and most importantly, connections to Red Cross services to support their recovery journey. 

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Seven Decades of Gratitude: An Unforgettable Volunteer Helps After a Fire

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Co-authored by Channa Sweet and Jill Feldon LaNouette


October 20, 1957 newspaper clippings of the 4-alarm fire that took place on Fell St.
Credit: The San Francisco Examiner // Archives

Carol awoke at 2 a.m. to an unimaginable scene unfolding in front of her. She was trapped in a room with smoke burning her nose and flames licking at the door. Unable to leave through her bedroom door, she climbed out her window and escaped from the third floor down an already burning fire escape. With singed hair and bare feet firmly planted on the cold ground, she stood across the street feeling like she was “watching her whole life burn away.”

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Community Adaptation Program Celebrates One Year in Monterey County

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The Community Adaptation Program team together at the 2025 American Red Cross Northern California Coastal Region Gala. Pictured are Lucy Rojas (left), Gabriela Perez Albarracin (middle) and Maria Magaña (right).

By Mark Phillips, Board Member Central Coast Chapter

The American Red Cross Community Adaptation Program (CAP) is an initiative to enhance the ability of local and hyper-local organizations to provide services during disasters. The Red Cross leverages its expertise, partnerships and network to level up the impact of the grassroots organizations that know their communities best. By building the capability, capacity and continuity of these groups during blue sky periods, they are better able to provide vital services during trying times.

CAP came to Monterey County in July of 2024, when Gabriela Perez Albarracin joined the area from the Lake County, California. Under her leadership, the first year of CAP activity in Monterey County has had a number of successes and laid the groundwork for an impactful year two.

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From Punjab to Public Service: Amarjot Toor, A Red Cross Youth Volunteer’s Mission for Healthcare Access

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Written By: Amarjot Toor

Growing up in the small town of Jagraon in Punjab, India, Amarjot Toor witnessed firsthand what it means to live without access to basic healthcare. In his rural neighborhood, a doctor’s visit was a luxury many families couldn’t afford. People often turned to home remedies or simply endured their suffering in silence. Conditions like Alzheimer’s, which touched Amarjot’s own family, were deeply misunderstood, mislabeled as superstition or dismissed entirely. There were no local specialists, no awareness campaigns, and no lifelines for those silently struggling.

Amarjot enjoys a sunset view of the bay and Golden Gate Bridge.

These early experiences left a mark that wouldn’t fade. When Amarjot moved to the United States in 2017 as a 6th grader, he carried those memories with him. In 8th grade, during a visit to a Red Cross blood drive in Vacaville, something shifted. He saw how a single unit of donated blood could save lives. He watched how people came together to support strangers they’d never meet. For Amarjot, it sparked a powerful realization: that humanitarian service could make a difference—and that he wanted to be a part of it. 

“Now, I have a chance to be part of something that does more than just raise awareness, it saves lives.” 

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