Tag Archives: Partners

Over half of homes in Silver Creek Mobile Estates made safer by ‘Sound the Alarm’ event

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On October 19, 2019, a team of over 100 American Red Cross and Tzu Chi Foundation volunteers supported by Council Member for District 7, Maya Esparza, San Jose Fire Department worked in teams to install smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.

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The Silver Creek Mobile Estates is a community of 240 homes located in San Jose, California. Captain Bien Doan of the San Jose Fire Department working with Terry Unter, Disaster Services Volunteer at the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Red Cross, directed a coordinated campaign to canvass the community and pre-book Saturday morning appointments for the installations. Following the installation, everyone regrouped for lunch: subs from Lee’s Sandwiches. Read more

Remembering the Loma Prieta Earthquake: 30 Years Later

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loma prieta 420x279On October 17, 1989, the devastating 6.9-magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake rocked Northern California with the Bay Area and Central Coast bearing the brunt of the impact. The resulting catastrophic damage and loss of life forever changed the landscape, infrastructure, and people of the Golden State.

To commemorate the 30th anniversary, the American Red Cross is gathering stories from those who experienced the Loma Prieta earthquake. Through sharing these stories of recovery and resiliency, we hope to encourage active preparation for the next major event. If you have a memory, experience, or photos/videos from Loma Prieta, we invite you to share them with us. Read more

Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces Supports 129th Rescue Wing

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The 129th Rescue Wing is part of the California Air National Guard, and is based at Moffett Field, California. “That others may live.” Is the motto of Air Rescue and typifies the wartime mission of combat search and rescue and the peacetime missions of finding and rescuing distressed people on shifts, lost or injured hikers and medical evacuations. The unit consists of over 1,000 members, 700 of whom are part time California Air Guard Members. Read more

Red Cross Support to Gilroy Garlic Festival Shooting Relief Operation

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On Sunday, July 29, 2019, a tragic mass casualty event occurred at about 5:30 PM, in the closing hours of the Gilroy Garlic Festival. Shortly after midnight that evening, the City of Gilroy Fire Department and Emergency Operations Center (EOC) formally requested American Red Cross support for a city shelter providing refuge for people who were not able to retrieve their personal belongings, vehicles and or identification. The Red Cross opened a shelter at Christopher High School in Gilroy and operated that shelter until Thursday, August 1 during which time Red Cross volunteers and community partners provided health, mental health, feeding and recovery planning services. Read more

Even though spring has passed, it’s still ‘Sound the Alarm’ season

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New Regional CEO Jennifer Adrio joined Silicon Valley Chapter CEO Ken Toren, more than 100 chapter volunteers, and partner teams at a very successful Sound the Alarm event earlier this month in San Jose. (Photo: Camilla Boolootian)
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On average, home fires kill 7 people and injure another 36 — every single day in the United States. That’s why the American Red Cross launched its nationwide Home Fire Campaign in 2014 with the goal of reducing the number of home fire deaths and injuries.

A key component of the campaign is a series of Sound the Alarm – Save a Life smoke alarm installation events in which Red Cross volunteers, working with local fire departments and other partners, visit high-risk neighborhoods to offer to install free 10-year smoke alarms, replace batteries in existing alarms, and help families create escape plans. It is believed that the Sound the Alarm neighborhood visits, in which more than 1.5 million alarms have been installed, have already saved more than 600 lives throughout the United States since the Home Fire Campaign began.

Teams throughout the American Red Cross’s Northern California Coastal Region were especially busy in April and May, organizing and holding a large number of Sound the Alarm “signature events.” These events were part of a special spring push that American Red Cross volunteers and our partners were making nationally from April 27 through May 12. The goal of this national effort was to install 100,000 smoke alarms during that three-weekend period. Read more

Santa Clara County home fire illustrates value of smoke-alarm installations

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Mo Ghandehari, left, and Gordon Sakai visited the same Gilroy home twice: once to install two smoke alarms; a second time when the same alarms were activated by a fire in the attic.
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Summoned to the scene of a house fire in Gilroy this past November, American Red Cross volunteers Mo Ghandehari and Gordon Sakai thought the residence — badly damaged — seemed eerily familiar to each of them. That’s because it was.

The two Red Cross Disaster Action Team (DAT) members for South Santa Clara County had been there before; in fact, just seven months before as installers on a Red Cross smoke-alarm installation team. Read more

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