Tag Archives: People we serve

Resilience After Disasters

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By Executive Director of Central Valley Chapter Lori Wilson

Lori Wilson (L) with Mayor Camacho (R).

CORRECTION (July 31, 2026): An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Mayor Camacho of Saipan as former Mayor Carlos Camacho from Guam. The error has been corrected.

In July, I had the privilege of touring the island of Saipan with Mayor Camacho as an Elected Official Liaison (EOL), visiting families whose lives have been deeply affected by Typhoons Sinlaku and Bavi alongside him. As we went from home to home, we listened to their stories, learned about their most pressing needs and witnessed firsthand the remarkable resilience that continues to shine through despite so much loss and uncertainty.

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Gale Carli’s Journey to Saipan Revealed the Best of Humanity After Disaster

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When retired nurse Gale Carli from San Mateo County arrived in Saipan seven days after Super Typhoon Sinlaku devastated the U.S. territory in the western Pacific Ocean, the signs of destruction were impossible to miss. 

Red Cross volunteer Gale Carli in Saipan.

“The electricity was off, so driving was treacherous,” Carli recalled. “There were trees down, power poles down, lights down, and you could tell that something disastrous had happened.” 

Sinlaku, an exceptionally powerful Category 5-equivalent storm, blew through the Northern Mariana Islands in mid-April, unleashing catastrophic flooding and sustained winds approaching 180 miles per hour. The storm left the tourism-dependent island struggling to recover. Trees were stripped bare, roads were littered with debris, and much of the lush tropical landscape had turned brown after exposure to salt water. 

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Mutual Support and Monthly Meals: The Red Cross Mission at Fisher House

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Connie Borrego (L), Roxanne Anderson (M) and Liz Dietz (R) serving dinner outdoors.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, or VA, has over 9 million veterans enrolled in its health care system. Veterans often require extensive medical care, which puts a strain on families who don’t live near VA hospitals yet want to be with their loved ones. A core mission of the American Red Cross is to provide humanitarian support to military members and their families and for the past two years, the Red Cross has partnered with Fisher House as a key resource for veteran families during health crises.

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Colleagues Connect to Make Community Safer  

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Vanir team ready to head out to install smoke alarms for community members in Richmond, Calif., for Sound the Alarm. L to R: Project Directors Santiago Harris and Cymbre Potter, Construction Manager Tierra Andrews, and Senior Project Manager Laurence Maller

On a cool Saturday morning in Richmond, Calif., a group of colleagues from construction management company Vanir traded hard hats and project schedules for clipboards and smoke alarms. They were part of the American Red Cross Sound the Alarm campaign, installing free smoke alarms and sharing fire safety information in at-risk communities. 

But for this team, the day was about more than just service. It was also about connection. 

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Earth Day, Then and Now: Finding Hope on the Frontlines of a Climate Crisis 

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By Dej Knuckey

On the first Earth Day in 1970, twenty million Americans gathered to protest pollution and industrial waste. No one was using the term “climate crisis” yet, but the biggest pollutants of all—greenhouse gases—were just beginning to take their toll. 

Since then, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen from 325 to 430 parts per million, a powerful measure of how much the climate has changed in just over five decades.  

Now we see the effects every day: The American Red Cross is responding to nearly twice as many large disasters as it did a decade ago. 

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Prepared to Act: How Lifesaving Skills Helped a Teen Save His Father

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17-year-old Edward Kuan is presented with the Red Cross Certificate of Extraordinary Personal Action on April 11, 2026, at the Emeryville Sound the Alarm event.

Emergencies don’t wait for the perfect moment.

They can happen without warning, in the middle of an ordinary day, at home, surrounded by family.

But what happens next often depends on one thing: whether someone nearby knows what to do.

For Edward Kuan, that moment came unexpectedly. At just 15 years old, his actions made the difference between life and death.

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