Tag Archives: Regional

The Detective of Disaster Zones: How a Red Crosser Reunites Lost Families 

She still remembers her first missing persons case from eight years ago. An older woman was frantically looking for her daughter and granddaughter who had disappeared after Hurricane Harvey hit Texas and Louisiana. Kathy Kennard, an American Red Cross volunteer, was assigned to track them down, and eventually located the pair! 

“She sobbed and sobbed when I told her they were safe in a shelter,” remembers Kathy, who is a Reunification supervisor for the Red Cross. “It’s the most rewarding thing.”  

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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 doing mobile communications for the British Red Cross 

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.  

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From California to the Carolinas: How one Red Crosser is helping those impacted by winter storms

By South Carolina Red Crosser Nick Gibson

Andrew Rosenberg worked alongside the HQ Shelter Manager, Tonya, coordinating shelter efforts from HQ.

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. 

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American 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.

October 22, 2025. Anchorage, Alaska.
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.
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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.   

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