Tag Archives: Community Partner

Creative Collaboration Between Red Cross and Community Partners Solves Problems in a Disaster Zone 

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Local school bus drivers helped distribute food in Guam after a typhoon

After a massive typhoon hit Guam in 2023, people on the islands were struggling to feed their families. While the American Red Cross had set up a shelter to house people whose homes had been damaged, there were many people in the community who were not staying at the shelter but still needed food and water. Red Cross leaders wondered, how can we get food to the local community, when there are no street signs for navigating and we don’t have a fleet of vehicles here? Bus drivers were the answer! So, the Red Cross worked with the school district in Guam to distribute meals on school buses because the drivers knew the streets well and had transportation available already. 

After some time, Red Cross leadership was considering ending the feeding program in the community, but the volunteers in the field were concerned. They drove around to all the local bodegas and there was “nothing there” on the shelves, says Briana Taylor, Red Cross volunteer. “We went back and said, ‘You can’t stop feeding until we have food in the markets.’ People wouldn’t have had any resources to provide food for their families.” 

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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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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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One Trauma, Several Big Hearts, and an Unforgettable Outcome

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Midday Sunday, on Presidents’ Day weekend, 2025, anyone driving along I-880 near Oakland, Calif.’s Laney College would have seen a large black plume of smoke dangerously close to the freeway, billowing towards Lake Merritt. An RV fire had erupted on that dry but overcast day, its flames marking the beginning of an unusual reunification story involving at least two organizations, some very dedicated people, and a cat.

Marsha sleeping soundly under the care of her “good samaritan”

Found After Flames

A day or two after the smoke cleared, “a good samaritan,” as Red Cross Northern California Coastal Region volunteer Jessica Shobar recently said, “found a lost kitty in San Leandro…hiding under a car, badly burned, and covered in soot.” Though the kitty’s wounds were substantial—with blackened and singed paws, face, and body—she was alive. And though the distance from the fire was exceptional and the kitty didn’t have a microchip, her luck would later be viewed as extraordinary because the good samaritan and San Leandro’s Animal Control coaxed her into a carrier and took her to a local clinic. This was especially fortunate because if she’d been found in Oakland, she might have been sent to a shelter and never would have landed where the key ingredients for reunification were available.

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Emergency Phone Call Connects Doctor to Red Cross

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When U.S. Air Force service member James “Eric” Bermudez received an urgent phone call from the American Red Cross notifying him of a family emergency back home, he had no way of knowing that it was one of many encounters that he would have with the Red Cross while he served. Even after retiring from the Air Force, his relationship with the Red Cross would continue, as he would take on a vital volunteer role.

That phone call came while he was an enlisted medical technician. “The Red Cross called me at my duty station. I was at work, and they called and said we want to put you in touch with your mother; she needs to talk to you,” says (now) Dr. Bermudez (who went on to become an officer and physician in the Air Force, after graduating from medical school). The Red Cross has a unique relationship with the armed forces, which includes helping service members connect with their families during times of emergency. So, on that day, the Red Cross tracked down Dr. Bermudez so that he could talk to his family.

Dr. Bermudez enjoys serving and giving back to the U.S. Air Force community as a civilian Red Cross flight medicine physician volunteer (Photo courtesy of Dr. Bermudez)
Flight medicine clinic at David Grant Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base, site of a unique partnership between the Red Cross and U.S. Air Force (Photo courtesy of Roderick Tapnio)
From left – Col Alexei Kambalov, with Red Crossers Dr. Dan Canlas, Dr. Justin Nast, Alzinia Pailin, Aerial Chen, at David Grant Medical Center (Photo courtesy of Roderick Tapnio)
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