Photo courtesy of Barbara Atlas American Red Cross
Barbara Atlas is an example of volunteerism. She has been committed to the Red Cross mission since she started as a Disaster Action Team (DAT) member with the National Capital and Greater Chesapeake Region in Washington DC. “For 4 of the 37 years we lived four miles from the White House, I enjoyed responding to fires and other local disasters as a DAT team member,” she said.
After they retired, Barbara and her husband moved to Oakland in 2019. She knew she wanted to continue supporting the humanitarian mission of the Red Cross. One of the many ways she jumped back into volunteering locally was by becoming a blood delivery driver for the Bay Area Chapter Blood Services team. “I get a lot of pleasure from driving a Red Cross van to transport blood, both the pickup of new blood from donor centers and delivering blood as needed to local hospitals. I know that donated blood is saving lives. It is also gratifying to train new drivers for transporting blood and thrilling to see my former trainees on the job. But most important is getting to know the generous people who work in Blood Services helped me learn how,” she said.
“What you guys are doing, you reassure us that people are out there and care.”
Lucie Tison and her husband Tom at his house in San Rafael. Photo by Marcia Antipa / American Red Cross
Lucie Tison and her husband Tom have lived in the Contempo Marin Mobile Home Park in San Rafael for 17 years. On a recent Saturday morning, teams of volunteers from the Red Cross fanned out across this community of 400 homes to install free smoke alarms for residents. This Sound the Alarm event is part of the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, a national program designed to save lives from home fires through installation of free smoke alarms and fire safety education.
As of August 23rd, the Red Cross announced that since the start of the Home Fire Campaign in October of 2014, volunteers have installed more than 2.5 million free smoke alarms with almost 2,000 documented lives saved thanks to those smoke alarms and fire safety education.
American Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces volunteer and Army spouse Sara Andrews, assists an Afghan guest at the Fort Bliss Doña Ana Range Complex in Chaparral, New Mexico. Photo by Scott Dalton/American Red Cross
In a world where armed conflicts often divide families and disasters can tear loved ones apart, Ola Alani stands as a beacon of hope. As a Restoring Family Links (RFL) volunteer with the Red Cross Northern California Coastal Region, Ola’s story is one of resilience, determination, and the pursuit of a childhood dream.
Born and raised in Iraq, Ola grew up against the tumultuous backdrop of war and conflict. The Red Cross, with its reputation for compassion and assistance, had always held a special place in her heart as she had seen the emblem in action many times growing up. She had a lifelong desire to play a part in the organization. When she moved to the United States and graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 2015, her dream was finally realized when she embarked on her Red Cross journey as a volunteer. “Getting to volunteer with an organization I had highly regarded was a childhood dream come true for me!” shared Ola.
The Volunteer of the Year Award honors individuals who best exemplify the humanitarian spirit of volunteerism.
It’s the highest honor a volunteer can achieve within our chapters, meaning that they made significant contributions to the American Red Cross over the last calendar year. These volunteers worked in multiple roles alongside fellow volunteers and staff, providing support to all lines of service. In short, they exemplify the Red Cross mission, and we are proud to share the 2022 award winners.
Photos by Albert and Virginia Becker / American Red Cross
In the heart of scenic Loma Mar’s Redwood Glen Camp, more than 120 enthusiastic and driven students from across the Bay Area gathered for a transformative experience. The American Red Cross Leadership Development Center (LDC), a four-day conference, aims to empower individuals ages 13 – 18 with essential leadership skills, disaster preparedness knowledge, lifesaving skills and the opportunity to make an impact in their communities. Packed with engaging activities, inspirational speakers and unforgettable moments, LDC always promises to be an adventure for these aspiring young Red Crossers.
Through hands-on training and simulations, delegates learned crucial techniques for emergency response, first aid and CPR. Delegates gained a deeper understanding of the Red Cross’ five lines of services and how to get involved through several interactive workshops. Regional Red Cross leadership and Board Members also joined them for a day to share what inspired them to serve with the organization and how passion for leadership can be turned into action at any age. They even had the opportunity to create a “Shark Tank” style sales pitch on the importance of donating blood, which helped instill a sense of responsibility to this lifesaving cause.
Paulina Munoz, lead for the winning team Photo courtesy of Paulina Munoz.
Story by Richard Payne
Creating a successful campaign focused on International Humanitarian Law (IHL) that is fun, engaging, and educational would seem like a daunting task. Doing it with a virtual team of high school students who never met face-to-face would seem doubly difficult. Yet, the winning team in the 2022-2023 Northern California Coastal Region (NCCR) IHL Youth Action Campaign did just that.
In Northern California, 8 teams, comprised of nearly 40 high school students, participated in IHL training. Each team then developed and delivered IHL awareness campaigns at their schools during the academic year. As a culmination of the campaign, a symposium was held to showcase each team’s work, the struggles they faced and the efforts they took to overcome those challenges. A panel of judges scored each campaign on a series of factors and chose the team that demonstrated the best problem-solving and leadership skills.
Razi Aftab and Paulina Munoz led the winning team, which included students from two of the region’s Red Cross chapters – the North Bay and the Heart of the Valley Chapter, covering Stockton and the surrounding area. Because the team members lived far apart, they only met virtually in weekly calls.
Paulina believed the bond they formed was one of the team’s greatest strengths. “The best part of the campaign was being able to work as a team throughout the term. We got to know the other team members and felt connected. As a result, we were a lot more productive,” she said/
A screenshot from the Instagram account of the team, showing the activities they planned for the campaign.
In building their campaign, the team members identified that their peers had limited knowledge of the Red Cross or International Humanitarian Law. That’s why the team felt that engaging students had to be their number one priority.
“Attracting youth to be involved in the campaign was a challenge. That’s why we focused on having activities that we thought our peers would enjoy as opposed to approaching this campaign from a teaching perspective,” Razi explained.
During the academic year, each team member organized and hosted events at their school around the topic of IHL. The team also created activities and events such as interactive question-based games that tested the advocate’s knowledge on IHL.
“Probably the most distinct event was our escape room,” Razi said. “We had case studies on International Humanitarian Law and asked the advocates to work through those examples. They had to review the scenarios and apply the information they had learned to come up with the best option. We had very good engagement with that!”
In summarizing their personal experiences with the campaign, Razi shared: “Our greatest takeaway was that we were able to foster a sense of community. The program felt like a group effort rather than an academic exercise. It was voluntary and each person contributed to reaching the end goal of increasing the understanding of International Humanitarian Law.”
Paulina had similar sentiments about this experience: : “A lot of the students who participated in the campaign came into it with no idea what international humanitarian law was about. Through their participation in the campaign, they took away an understanding of IHL and the knowledge that international humanitarian law and services were more available to them than they thought. It was a great way to get them to know their community, the Red Cross, and what we stand for as a society.”
Congratulations to these incredible teams on formulating a thoughtful campaign and for spreading awareness about IHL!
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