Tag Archives: Volunteers

Hurricane Ian Anniversary: From Highway Patrol to Humanitarian Aid

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American Red Cross volunteer Melody Heilmann

The woman, and many of her neighbors, had been eating only canned food and storing very limited perishables in coolers since a hurricane had hit their homes weeks before, American Red Cross volunteer Melody Heilmann says. She chokes up as she recalls the woman screaming at the top of her lungs with joy when she was told she qualified for financial assistance from the Red Cross, “Oh my god, I can get a refrigerator now!” The woman was one of many people that Melody helped while volunteering for the Red Cross three years ago during Hurricane Ian.

This assignment was one of eight times Melody has responded to a disaster with the Red Cross, including after the wildfires in Chico, Calif. and Lahaina, Hawaii. Arriving just two days after the catastrophic fires in Hawaii, Melody vividly recalls people who arrived at the shelter still covered in soot and missing their shoes because they lost them when they fled from the deadly blaze. Although it can be very sad to meet people at what might be the worst time of their lives, seeing how the Red Cross helps them is very rewarding.

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2025 Chapter Focused Volunteer Awards

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Each year, our chapter proudly honors two extraordinary individuals whose dedication and service embody the very heart of the American Red Cross mission. The Volunteer of the Year Award is presented to a volunteer who has made a significant impact over the past year—contributing meaningfully to our operations, programs, and services while exemplifying the true spirit of volunteerism. The Clara Barton Honor Award for Meritorious Leadership, our chapter’s highest, once-in-a-lifetime recognition, celebrates a volunteer whose sustained leadership and collaborative spirit over many years have helped shape and strengthen our ability to serve the community. Join us in celebrating this year’s remarkable honorees.

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One Trauma, Several Big Hearts, and an Unforgettable Outcome

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Midday Sunday, on Presidents’ Day weekend, 2025, anyone driving along I-880 near Oakland, Calif.’s Laney College would have seen a large black plume of smoke dangerously close to the freeway, billowing towards Lake Merritt. An RV fire had erupted on that dry but overcast day, its flames marking the beginning of an unusual reunification story involving at least two organizations, some very dedicated people, and a cat.

Marsha sleeping soundly under the care of her “good samaritan”

Found After Flames

A day or two after the smoke cleared, “a good samaritan,” as Red Cross Northern California Coastal Region volunteer Jessica Shobar recently said, “found a lost kitty in San Leandro…hiding under a car, badly burned, and covered in soot.” Though the kitty’s wounds were substantial—with blackened and singed paws, face, and body—she was alive. And though the distance from the fire was exceptional and the kitty didn’t have a microchip, her luck would later be viewed as extraordinary because the good samaritan and San Leandro’s Animal Control coaxed her into a carrier and took her to a local clinic. This was especially fortunate because if she’d been found in Oakland, she might have been sent to a shelter and never would have landed where the key ingredients for reunification were available.

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On Being a Shelter Volunteer: My First Deployment Experience 

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Volunteer Disaster Supervisor Jerome Thierry (center) has been involved with the American Red Cross since he was a child in Los Angeles in 1977. Given his experience, he supports newer volunteers like Jill Feldon (left) and Keturah Fenicle (right) as shelter team leader. 

It’s true: you will meet some amazing people, you will have “a-ha” moments that will stick with you for the rest of your life, your adrenaline will soar, you will learn a ton and you’ll face long stretches of tedium punctuated by a flurry of activity. 

All these moments are yours to experience if you respond to a disaster as an American Red Cross volunteer.  

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Building un-fur-gettable memories: A Red Cross volunteer helps veterans and dogs connect in the Central Coast Chapter

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Each time a team of dogs and their handlers descends on the Major General William H. Gourley VA-DoD Outpatient Clinic in Marina, California, American Red Cross volunteer Penny Mount cannot help but feel a sense of satisfaction.   She knows these dogs have a meaningful impact on patients, less than a year after their first visit as part of the first Red Cross’s Animal Visitation Program (AVP) in California’s Central Coast.

Penny started the AVP program in November 2024 at the request of her supervisor, Nikki Rowe. She had never built a similar program and “I knew nothing about therapy dogs,” says Penny.  So, she reached out to local resources, including the Alliance of Therapy Dogs. 

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Sound The Alarm:  502 Homes Made Safer Thanks to Red Cross Volunteers, Local Fire Departments and Community Partners

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1,357 smoke alarms installed throughout the Northern California Coastal Region in this spring

The American Red Cross responds to home fires more than any other disaster nationwide, so home fire prevention is something we take seriously. For that reason, Red Cross members, along with local fire departments and community partners, to install 1,357 free smoke alarms in 502 homes, making 1,472 residents safer from homes fires during our 2025 Sound the Alarm campaign. From April 26 – May 23, communities in Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano, Merced, San Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties were made safer thanks to free smoke alarms and home fire prevention education.

Sound the Alarm events are a critical part of the national Red Cross Home Fire Campaign which aims to reduce the number of deaths from home fires. The Home Fire Campaign has helped save 2,320 lives since its launch in October 2014 due to working smoke alarms in homes. Nationwide, volunteers and local fire departments visit neighborhoods to install free smoke alarms and share home fire prevention information with residents, including home fire escape plans. Here in the Northern California Coastal Region, volunteers and partners have installed more than 55,300 free smoke alarms and made more than 20,000 households safer since 2014, saving 32 lives reported in the Greater Bay Area.

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