By Kathleen Maclay, Red Cross volunteer
With hundreds seeking Red Cross help as Northern California wildfires have forced residents to evacuate, the American Red Cross is offering a one-stop Volunteer Intake Center (VIC) in the Lake County community of Middletown from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Saturday, August 4. Maybe longer. Read more
By Barbara Wood
Red Cross volunteer Barbara Wood of Woodside works in Hilo, Hawaii, with Eric Mondero of San Diego in the Red Cross headquarters where the work of other volunteers helping the island respond to ongoing volcanic activity is coordinated. (Photo: Karl Matzke, American Red Cross volunteer)
Kilauea has long been a tourist attraction on the “big island” of Hawaii, a volcano within a national park that has been erupting with generally benign regularity since 2008.
In Hawaiian mythology Kilauea’s Halema’uma’u crater is the home, and the embodiment, of Pele, the goddess of fire and volcanoes. As part of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, tourists regularly hike Pele’s flanks.
On May 3, however, everything changed. Soon after volcanic fissures began opening up under homes and farmland in the Leilani Estates neighborhood of the district of Puna, and earthquakes began coming almost too fast for the U.S. Geological Survey to register them, residents were evacuated, structures destroyed, roads closed and the Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV) a geothermal energy plant that supplied a quarter of the island’s power was shut down, perhaps forever. Read more
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Kathryn Hecht
917-805-7241 | kathryn.hecht@redcross.org
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This family’s children watch as their parents receive much-needed supplies from the Red Cross. (Photo: Russell Cole)
SANTA ROSA, CA (July 2, 2018) — The American Red Cross continues to support Lake County communities as residents there cope with the aftermath of the Pawnee Fire, which erupted in late June. Read more
CalNW Chapter Executive Director Jeff Baumgartner spoke with KSRO’s Pat Kerrigan to discuss the California Wildfires Six-Month Update from the Red Cross. Baumgartner recalled the Red Cross response and confirmed that recovery would likely take one to three years. Baumgartner described the vast number of community partners involved in the recovery effort and stated it would be an opportunity to build back community systems and infrastructure with more insight into future needs. He also recognized the deep generosity of the broader community in their combined response efforts saying that the level of community response was “extremely impressive.”
Click here to listen to the full interview on KSRO.
Click here to access the California Wildfires Six-Month Update.
In 2017, Puerto Rico was hit with two strong hurricanes that devastated the island. One hundred percent of the population was without power, and many were without water or a safe consistent food source. The American Red Cross put out a call for disaster worker volunteers who have experience working in third world environments; they specifically sought returned Peace Corps volunteers, of which I am one. Read more
SAN JOSE, CA (April 17, 2018) — American Red Cross volunteers were called by the San Jose Fire Department at 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 17, 2018, to provide care and comfort to the 100+ residents evacuated due to the 5-alarm apartment fire on McLaughlin in San Jose.
Red Cross volunteers arrived on scene and quickly opened an evacuation center at the complex clubhouse, where residents were able to gather and wait for more information about next steps. Food and emotional support were provided. Also, Red Cross volunteers were able to meet with each family to assess the disaster-related needs. Read more
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