American Red Cross volunteer – and recent transplant to Fairfield – Susan Reese always planned to work with the Red Cross when she retired. When Susan finally retired from the restaurant industry last year, she became a volunteer wildfire associate. While working at a Local Assistance Center (LAC) during the North Complex fires in Yuba City, disaster response leadership called for people to join the feeding team. Susan jumped up, and said, “Feeding is what I love doing!” Just like that, Susan’s first deployment brought everything full circle.
Susan first had contact with the Red Cross in 1997 when she lived in Klamath, California. That year, the Klamath River breeched and flooded the town. Susan says that the entire area “was wiped out.” The Red Cross arrived and began to feed survivors and evacuees by bringing in food from a neighboring city.
Penny with a K-9 from the Monterey County Sheriff Department.
Penny Mount likes to have her hands full of projects and people for whom she cares. During a recent phone chat to talk about compassion calls she made on behalf of the American Red Cross’ Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) program, she was also looking after her 11-month-old great-granddaughter, Jolene. “She’s headstrong, just like her mother,” Penny says. By the end of that same call, Jolene had “creatively decorated herself” and Penny’s counter with her lunch. “Her mother’s not going to be too happy with me,” Penny chuckled.
And that’s just how it is with Penny: breezy, light and full of gratitude.
The compassion calls were part of SAF’s month of service this past February. Volunteers from across the Northern California Coastal Region placed calls to the nearly 3,000 families served by SAF in the last 18 months. They checked on the families’ health and welfare and extended a hand of assistance should any be needed. The purpose was to deliver the Red Cross mission of providing care and comfort to service members, veterans and military families.
And this Clara Barton Award recipient wouldn’t have it any other way
San Jose resident Liz Dietz has been a dedicated Red Crosser for 40 years, supporting community members and colleagues alike with a tireless commitment to our mission. (Photo by Larry Dietz) _____
Liz Dietz’s work for the American Red Cross — in health services, supporting people affected by disasters large and small; advocating for the needs of military members, veterans, and their families; staffing a regional first-aid team that for years supported major events; and so much more — speaks for itself.
It almost has to, given the challenge of getting Liz to lend her own words to a description of her decades of impactful volunteer work for the Red Cross. Read more
Tiki Dellamora represents everything that is good about the Red Cross
Tiki Dellamora is a beloved member of the Central Coast Chapter volunteer team. _____
Productive, dependable, and tireless are three adjectives regularly used to describe the thousands of volunteers whose work is at the heart of everything the American Red Cross does to support individuals, families, and communities throughout our country.
But take an extra minute to observe these volunteers on the job. If you do, it’s hard to overlook one other characteristic they all seemingly have in common: a sense of optimism that brings a smile not only to the faces of the many people they support and serve, but also to the faces of the Red Cross colleagues working at their side.
“In our Central Coast Chapter, perhaps no one epitomizes that can-do, joyful spirit more than Tiki Dellamora,” says Chapter CEO Michele Averill, who announced recently that Tiki was a recipient of the organization’s prestigious Clara Barton Award. Read more
Regional Red Cross teams continue work with counties to help those displaced
This information was last updated on Wednesday, February 3, at 10 a.m.
Current situation: In response to the evacuation of some 15,000 people in the Central Coast area due to last week’s dangerously wet and windy storms in Northern California, regional Red Cross teams have mobilized to support to those in need.
What does a rail transit employee do in his spare time? Volunteer to help others, of course. Meet Kevin Sagar, the American Red Cross Volunteer of the Year for Marin County.
Kevin is wrapping up his first year with the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit, known as the SMART Train. Outside of his job, Kevin donates much of his time to the American Red Cross.
“I get enjoyment about being able to help others and make a difference in the community,” he says.
When nominating Kevin for Volunteer of the Year, Marin Disaster co-chair Anne Eichhorn wrote, “What would we do without Kevin? He is the silent backbone of Marin Red Cross.”
Kevin, a Marin County native, joined the Red Cross six years ago. The Tubbs Fire that roared through Santa Rosa in 2017 became one of his biggest deployments. He asked his boss for a leave of absence and volunteered for a month straight.
“I sort of just went at it full speed ahead and never slowed down. For about the first week, I slept at the Red Cross office because people were calling at 3:00 in the morning and saying they needed something. I think I had an order for 10,000 pairs of work gloves, and they needed them within two days.”
Since that deployment, Kevin has taken multiple Red Cross training classes and worked in many roles. Now, he is indispensable as the Logistics Lead.
Kevin explains Logistics as “everything from the facilities to the vehicles to keeping all of our trailers and shelter supplies ready to go; from office supplies to air purifiers to ordering a pallet of hand sanitizer.”
Marin Disaster Co-Chair Lois Roth says Kevin is “ready day and night when disaster strikes to deliver supplies and assist in set up. The most frequent phrase in the office is ‘Ask Kevin!’”
“He’s developed the reputation of the go-to guy, even if it’s not about Logistics,” says Vincent Valenzuela, Disaster Program Manager for Marin and Solano Counties. “It could be an I.T. issue; it could be needing a code for the closet of the office.”
Kevin also deployed to the 2014 South Napa earthquake and to Hurricane Harvey in Texas in 2017. He says Harvey’s destructive flooding left him awestruck. Now, flooding is on his mind here in the North Bay. This year’s devastating wildfires have left Northern California’s scorched hillsides susceptible to floods.
“That’s a big project Kevin has going on right now,” says Vincent Valenzuela. “[He’s] making sure all of our trailers are up-to-date.”
Other Red Crossers say they appreciate Kevin’s patience and low-key sense of humor. Kevin says humor helps him do his job – whether at his job or volunteering.
“I’m not a very stressful person,” he grins. “Being able to find a way to smile or make a joke out of something definitely makes everything go easier.”
Congratulations to Kevin Sagar!
You too can become a Red Cross volunteer: Please consider joining the Red Cross as a volunteer so that you can help us help others during wildfires and other large disasters. For more information and/or to start your application process, please visit redcross.org/volunteer/become-a-volunteer.html.
Marcia Antipa is a volunteer writer with the Northern California Coastal Region.
Current situation: In response to the evacuation of some 15,000 people in the Central Coast area due to last week’s dangerously wet and windy storms in Northern California, regional Red Cross teams have mobilized to support to those in need.
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