Tyge Bellinger likes helping people. It’s been his “thing” ever since he was a little kid. He first volunteered in 2017, during his senior year of high school. He joined the Home Fire Campaign and has been doing it ever since.
“I think I’ll keep building my work with the American Red Cross, but I love what I’m doing,” Tyge says. “I like doing things that can help save lives. And I like the people I work with, too.” Read more
As of Friday, August 17, 2018, 12:00 p.m.
For information on Red Cross services, call the 2018 Northern California Fire Storms Hotline at 855-558-1116.
Jordan Innes, 8, is glad that he can be with his pets while he is staying at the Lower Lake High School shelter. (Photo: Virginia Becker, American Red Cross)
For more photos, please go to this Flickr site.
Read some of our client and volunteer stories from this disaster relief operation.
California Northwest Chapter Executive Director Jeff Baumgartner address concerns about the Red Cross response in this blog post.
Three weeks after the Mendocino Complex Fire erupted in northern California, the Red Cross is there as communities recover, making sure people get the help they need as they cope with the aftermath of these deadly fires. According to officials, the Mendocino Complex Fire, which includes the River Fire and the Ranch Fire, which is 76% contained, has burned more than 378,000 acres and destroyed 157 homes in Lake County.
Alongside many community members and partners, 374 Red Cross disaster workers, most of whom are volunteers, continue to support to people whose lives have been turned upside-down by these wildfires. Read more
Wars, ethnic cleansing, genocide, and poverty — having plagued humanity for centuries — sadly continue to be part of our heritage today. The terms are synonymous with death, destruction, and the displacement of millions. But in spite of everything, there is still HOPE, manifest in the work of a humanitarian organization that lights the way amid the darkness.
By Samar M. Salma
Tamara is holding a cherished photo of herself, her late husband Oleg, and their daughter, Natalie. (Photo: Samar M. Salma)
From 1941 to 1944, the Germans subjected Leningrad, the former capital of Russia known today as “Saint Petersburg,” to one of the longest and most destructive chapters of World War II. Historians believe that the Siege of Leningrad — occurring over a nearly 900-day period — resulted in the deaths of up to 1.5 million soldiers and civilians and the evacuation of another 1.4 million people, mostly women and children. Read more
During the devastating Northern California fires this past October, every person who fled their homes — and in many cases, lost them — has a story to tell. So do the many Red Cross people who heroically stepped up to help in response to one of the most destructive weeks of fires in the state’s history.
Read our 2017 California Wildfires One-Year Stewardship Report
American Red Cross volunteer Sierra Marcelius received the Gene Beck Memorial Volunteer of the Year Award in June of this year. When asked what the award meant to her on a personal level, Sierra reflects, “At the time it didn’t mean a lot; I didn’t do this to get an award. But now that I’ve left, it means a great deal. The people that I worked with thought I did a good job and valued my contribution to the team.” Read more
A note from Stephanie Willett, Regional Director, Development Operations & Foundations:
I’m summarizing the attachments as slightly tricky to read.
A lovely note from Kyra Janssen in Santa Rosa. A gentleman gave Kyra a “fire discount” on a new coffee table. She’s working to “recreate a new home” after hers was destroyed on October 9th last year in the North Bay Fires. He also offered to make a gift to an organization of her choice. She asked him to make a gift to the Red Cross.
The note was sent with a $50 check to us – and with thanks to the Red Cross from both of them.
As our recovery work on multiple California wildfires continues, and as we jump with energy into supporting relief operations for so many impacted by the current storms – I’m so moved by this note, sent almost a year after Kyra lost her home. To me, this note speaks to the incredible strength of our Red Cross team and the enduring impact of our work for so many people.
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Your Red Cross Update 