RedCrossNW Preparedness

Prepare now for this year’s threatening wildfire season

A hillside on fire as seen from Brewster, WA, September 2020 By Gordon Williams  In most years, wildfires don’t become a serious threat in Washington until mid-summer when the days heat up and vegetation dries out. Things seem to be going a different way in 2021, with fires coming much earlier and much more frequently … Continue reading Prepare now for this year’s threatening wildfire season

RedCrossNW Corporate Partener, Volunteers

Meet Ron Dettmann and the stars of the Red Cross golf tournament

Ron Dettmann, in his element, in 2019 By Gordon Williams  What could be nicer than spending a summery day on a golf course in scenic Northwest Washington?                  What about spending a summery day on a golf course in scenic Northwest Washington while raising money to support the humanitarian mission of the American Red Cross? That … Continue reading Meet Ron Dettmann and the stars of the Red Cross golf tournament

RedCrossNW Biomedical Services, Service to the Armed Forces

Red Cross blood drives return to Fairchild AFB

By Gordon Williams  The American Red Cross — striving to provide a supply of human blood to match the relentless demand — keeps opening new doors in the search for donors.  Red Cross blood drive at Fairchild AFB, April 2021 That’s why, for two days in early April, Red Cross crews collected blood at Fairchild … Continue reading Red Cross blood drives return to Fairchild AFB

RedCrossNW community, Service to the Armed Forces

April features salute to military children

By Mark Walker  Lacie Clark is all too familiar with the challenges faced by children of active-duty members of the military.  Clark and her husband, U.S. Air Force Technical Sgt. Jacob Clark, recently returned to Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane following a deployment to England.   The couple and their children have also spent … Continue reading April features salute to military children

RedCrossNW Disaster Services, Volunteers

How the Red Cross managed a wicked wildfire season

By Gordon Williams  We’re barely into Spring, but the American Red Cross is already looking ahead to a summer wildfire season that could be as bad as the record-setting season that scorched Washington in 2020. Between an unprecedented number of fires and the strictures imposed by Covid-19, the 2020 wildfire season stressed Red Cross resources … Continue reading How the Red Cross managed a wicked wildfire season

RedCrossNW Biomedical Services, Volunteers

Why John Trudeau works seven-day weeks for the Red Cross

By Gordon Williams  Once every day — and sometimes more often than that — Red Cross volunteer John Trudeau drives to the Blood Donation Center on Second Street in Yakima, WA. There he helps load a delivery van with human blood and blood products bound for Memorial Hospital, three short miles away.  In transporting the … Continue reading Why John Trudeau works seven-day weeks for the Red Cross

RedCrossNW Uncategorized

95-year-old veteran is also a regular blood donor

By Ray Lapine  In August of 1945, Carl Garrison was a nineteen-year-old Marine deployed to Okinawa where forces were massing to invade the Japanese Home Islands. He was there when President Truman ordered atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Soon after those attacks, Japan surrendered, ending World War II before the planned invasion could … Continue reading 95-year-old veteran is also a regular blood donor

RedCrossNW Biomedical Services, community

Why your blood donation matters, from someone who experienced its lifesaving effect

By Abby Lutz When Tiffany Lundstrom was growing up, she was no stranger to blood donations.   “My dad is O negative, so he had given blood a lot,” Tiffany says.   But there’s a difference between knowing that donating blood is a worthy cause, and understanding the high-stress situation of needing blood during a crisis. … Continue reading Why your blood donation matters, from someone who experienced its lifesaving effect