Tag Archives: Silicon Valley

Thank you, once more, to our incredible volunteers!

Posted on by
volunteer recognition 420x279

Volunteers are the lifeline of the American Red Cross, providing critical services such as educating clients on home fire prevention. (Photo: Samar M. Salma; American Red Cross)
_____

Every April, the American Red Cross joins organizations around the world to shine a spotlight on the people who make the real difference in our communities: our volunteers. Their selfless time, energy, compassion, and dedication are what get the work of the Red Cross done.

National Volunteer Week takes place this year from April 19th through April 25th. As a ramp-up to this special time, now is the perfect moment to recognize – once more – the incredible volunteers honored throughout our region at our 2019 Volunteer Recognition Events:

Read more

Our region is helping address the severe blood shortage

Posted on by
blood-shortage_420x279

Individuals can schedule an appointment to give blood with the Red Cross by visiting RedCrossBlood.org, using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, calling 1-800-RED-CROSS, or enabling the Blood Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo device. (If you can’t find a blood drive in your area right now, please check back as Red Cross teams are rescheduling them as quickly as possible. Thank you!)
_____

As the coronavirus pandemic has grown in the U.S., blood drive cancellations have also grown at an alarming rate. As of March 18, nearly 4,500 Red Cross blood drives have been cancelled across the country due to concerns about congregating at workplaces, college campuses, and schools during the coronavirus outbreak. These cancellations have resulted in some 150,000 fewer blood donations. More than 80 percent of the blood the Red Cross collects comes from drives held at locations of this type. Read more

11-year-old who alerted her family to a fire is honored as Red Cross hero

Posted on by
Berlin 420x279

Berlin Gomez-Muniz, 11, received a Red Cross “Hero” medal for alerting her family to a Dec. 19 fire in San Jose. Her mother, Frankie, and Silicon Valley Red Cross chapter board chair Terry Unter look on. Photo: Mark Butler/American Red Cross

Berlin Gomez-Muniz stood quietly as a 3-inch diameter “Hero” medal was draped around her neck at the Jan. 16 Silicon Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross board meeting, but when it was the most important, the 11-year-old says, she yelled so loud her throat hurt after she alerted her extended family to a fire just before Christmas. Read more

Red Cross Certificate of Merit presented to Cupertino volunteer for using training skills to save a life

Posted on by

On September 9, 2019, Stuart Chessen, trained in American Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED, helped to save the life of a gentleman who had experienced a seizure on the sidewalk outside the American Red Cross office in San Francisco, CA. Stuart, a Cupertino resident, was teaching a class of students lifesaving skills when suddenly a bystander ran into the building alerting a gentleman was in distress. Stuart exited the classroom and found a gentleman on the sidewalk.  Stuart quickly assessed the situation and placed a jacket under the gentleman’s head as he was striking the sidewalk. Stuart along with bystanders were able to keep the gentleman calm. Emergency Medical Services arrived shortly after to continue care. Without a doubt, the skills learned in the American Red Cross Training Services course helped to save the life of this gentleman. Read more

Red Cross-installed smoke alarm alerts mobile home residents to fire

Posted on by
install outside 420x279

These volunteers were among those installing smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors in the Sunshadow mobile home park on Feb. 19, 2019, six months before two residents’ lives were saved when the smoke alarms alerted them to a fire. Photo Credit: American Red Cross/Oleksii Nazaruk.
Click here for more photos from the event.

San Jose resident Nguyen Robson had been an American Red Cross volunteer for less than a year when he was called to help two mobile home residents displaced by a fire and received a vivid lesson about his volunteer work’s impact.

When Robson arrived at the Sunshadow mobile home park in San Jose, the two residents — waiting safely outside their home — greeted him with grateful recognition in their native Vietnamese. They remembered Robson as one of the volunteers who had installed smoke alarms and helped them prepare an evacuation plan for their mobile home only six months earlier. The alarm woke them from a mid-afternoon nap and allowed their escape.

Read more

For a half century, Peg Geringer has had a love affair with her Red Cross work

Posted on by

peg-geringer_420x279Peg Geringer’s impact on the American Red Cross can be described in many ways: the different lines of service she has supported as a volunteer, her tenure as chair of the Silicon Valley Chapter’s First Aid Services Team (FAST), or just by some very impressive numbers.

  • Peg became an active Red Cross volunteer almost 48 years ago.
  • She began donating blood after becoming a Red Crosser, and to date has given 28 gallons.
  • She was a member of the South Bay’s FAST team for 25 years and served as chair for the last 10.

Read more

« Older Entries Recent Entries »