Category Archives: Homepage Posts — Other

Valley Onward and the Red Cross: Building a Culture of Preparedness in Merced County

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As floods ravaged Planada, a small community in central California’s Merced County in 2023, Valley Onward, a local community non-profit organization, deployed its resources to help the local community respond and recover. They advised local residents on how to apply for financial assistance and led community discussions on where to find resources. As part of that process, Valley Onward applied for a grant from the California Office of Emergency Services to bolster its response to the floods and create a more resilient community in Merced County. For Valley Onward, the eventual funding it received was a pleasant surprise. It would allow Valley Onward to strengthen its mission of creating lasting changes in health, housing, education and other areas. There were more surprises to come, however. 

The Valley Onward team applied for a grant from the California Office of Emergency Services.

That is because before applying for the grant, Valley Onward began researching other emergency service organizations in Merced County. As Valley Onward project manager Joana Alfaro explains, “That’s when we first heard about the American Red Cross. We realized there were so many different ways to support and work with the Red Cross.”

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40 Pints: A Life, a Loss, and a Lifesaving Mission

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One day in April 2021, George Delaney lay in a Boston, Massachusetts hospital. He was exhausted. It had been a long four months. In January 2021, doctors diagnosed him with bladder cancer. At first, they thought it would be a “small problem,” his wife, Bridget, recounts, “but it became a big problem. Everything they tried exhausted him.”

Bridget Delaney-Messana (left) and George Delaney (right) in a vibrant garden—a reminder of their incredible journey together.

During his treatment, blood transfusions were his lifeline and an important source of relief. The tumor made George bleed profusely. It tired him and “made him incredibly anemic,” says Bridget. Blood transfusions were “his survival for many months. It was the only way he got relief and energy.”

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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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How Blood Donations and Advocacy Helped a Dancer Reclaim His Life from Sickle Cell Disease

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Noah was a professional dancer in his 20’s

Modern, jazz, and contemporary dance — he loved doing them all on stage. He was a professional dancer who had performed in shows in Chicago, St. Louis, Atlanta, and D.C., until the pain became too much.

“Deep chronic pain in my femurs and spine and throughout my body. It wouldn’t go away,” remembers Noah James. He was just 25 years old when the doctors told him, “Your bones are decaying.”

Noah was no stranger to pain, as he had been wrestling with Sickle Cell Disease all his life. But this was different. “It felt like I was walking on glass,” he says.

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From Engineer to Emergency Responder: Neil Katin’s Volunteer Journey

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A Staff Planning and Support Service Associate Feature

Neil went the extra mile to help set up a shelter in the middle of the night

You may have seen American Red Crossers on the news handing out food or welcoming people into disaster shelters. But you may not have seen the countless volunteers working tirelessly behind the scenes of a disaster response. Staff Planning and Support Service Associate Neil Katin is one of those people.

Neil has responded 39 times to disasters, big and small, in-person and virtually, to be the first and last Red Crosser that volunteers speak with during their deployment.

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