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: Disaster Response
From Royal Encounters to Red Cross Shelters
Not every British Red Crosser can say they met the queen of England, but Marco Couch is one of the lucky ones!
Marco joined the British Red Cross in the UK after graduating high school to keep himself busy during the summer. Little did he know it would set him on a path of volunteerism for 17 years that would eventually lead to his current job at the American Red Cross in California.
In England, Marco volunteered at large festivals and concerts all over the country doing operational radio communications in control rooms, coordinating the Red Cross first aid response. When people at the events got sick or injured, he would dispatch emergency responders to the scene.
Read moreFrom 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 moreAmerican Red Cross NCCR Volunteers Provide Relief to Thousands of Alaskan Survivors of Typhoon Halong
When American Red Cross volunteer Karl Matzke, from Santa Clara County, received the call to organize a team and deploy to Alaska, there was no hesitation in his decision to go. As one of the Divisional Leads for Operations Management, he ran the operations for the first shelter that opened in Alaska just three days after Typhoon Halong devastated the region on October 12.
The American Red Cross deployed hundreds of Red Cross disaster workers from across the country to help during what could be a prolonged relief response from Typhoon Halong.
You 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 moreRed Cross Volunteer Brought Hope and Housing Help to LA Fire Survivors and Others
What happens when you have nowhere to go after a disaster? What if your neighborhood is destroyed, or your home is no longer safe? For those affected by the January 2025 fires in Los Angeles, Calif., the American Red Cross was there to supply safe shelter, food, relief supplies, financial assistance, comfort and a specific service that only Sue Trautman and her team can provide.
Sue, a Red Cross Northern California Coastal Region volunteer, arrived in LA about a week after the fires devastated communities across the city. She set up shop in the Red Cross offices downtown and got right to work. Sue served on the Shelter Resident Transition Team — a group of volunteers that helps evacuees in shelters create a plan to move into more stable long-term housing.
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