From Saving Lives to Sharing One: A Red Cross Romance
Some stories remind us that service is more than a calling—it’s a thread that weaves lives together. This is one of those stories.
Tag Archives: Bay Area
From California to the Carolinas: How one Red Crosser is helping those impacted by winter storms
By South Carolina Red Crosser Nick Gibson
As winter storms have affected South Carolina over the past two weeks, many American Red Cross employees and volunteers deployed to the Palmetto State to help those in need. One of those employees was Andrew Rosenberg, who traveled from California.
Andrew is a community disaster program manager in the Northern California Coastal Region, based in San Francisco.
He believes deploying and helping others is incredibly important.
Read moreA Lifetime of Giving Back: How Blood Donation Became Part of Fred Sullivan’s Healthy Life
At 91 years old, Fred Sullivan wakes up every morning at 4:00 a.m., laces up his shoes, and gets moving. Before most people are even thinking about coffee, Fred has already exercised, completed 110 modified pushups, and set out on a three-mile walk. This steady, disciplined routine–along with donating blood every eight weeks whenever possible–has been part of his long and healthy life.
Read moreYou Don’t Have to Be a Nurse to Help: Volunteer’s Story Shows There’s a Role for Everyone at the Red Cross
Tammy Salwasser from Alameda County thought she had to be a nurse to volunteer with the American Red Cross.
“I first heard about it from a girlfriend of mine who was a nurse and she would deploy,” says Tammy. Her friend encouraged her to join as a volunteer, but Tammy’s work experience was in customer service and sales; so, she didn’t think she was qualified to help. That is, until she learned that there is no requirement for specialized credentials for many volunteer roles, since the Red Cross provides free training.
Read moreNo Power, No Problem: Stranded in San Francisco
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.
Read moreHow Blood Donations and Advocacy Helped a Dancer Reclaim His Life from Sickle Cell Disease
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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