Church members Noah and Derek volunteered to support a 2020 Red Cross blood drive By Mark Walker Every two seconds, someone in America requires an infusion of blood. Maintaining supplies necessary to meet that demand is increasingly challenging as the COVID-19 epidemic has resulted in many facilities that hosted blood drives being shuttered. Stepping into … Continue reading Puget Sound area LDS Churches powering local blood drives
How the Red Cross helps – when help is needed most
A Red Cross DAT Volunteer responds to a multi-unit home fire By Gordon Williams American Red Cross chapters serve their communities in many ways — from teaching CPR and first aid to keeping hospitals stocked with human blood. But nowhere is the contact more hands on and personal than the aid Red Cross volunteers deliver to disaster … Continue reading How the Red Cross helps – when help is needed most
Why I Volunteer: Disaster Action Team Supervisor John McNamara
Volunteer John McNamara from his home in Pullman, WA By Jennifer Astion "We are dealing with several houses with trees on them today," said Red Cross volunteer John McNamara when I spoke with him during a windstorm in mid-January 2021. He is a Disaster Action Team (DAT) Supervisor for the eastern part of the Greater Inland Northwest … Continue reading Why I Volunteer: Disaster Action Team Supervisor John McNamara
Top 10 benefits of Volunteering
Have you decided on your New Year’s Resolutions yet? Resolve to volunteer. The American Red Cross has many opportunities to help you connect your skills, availability and interest with needs in your community. Here are the top 10 reasons why you should volunteer. Read them, then explore our most urgent volunteer needs at http://www.redcross.org/volunteertoday. … Continue reading Top 10 benefits of Volunteering
Why I Volunteer: Debbie Lutskas
Debbie Lutskas, Disaster Volunteer extraordinaire, from her home in Moses Lake, WA By Gordon Williams There are American Red Cross volunteers who have deployed to disaster scenes three or four or even a dozen times over the years. And then there is Debbie Lutskas of Moses Lake WA who has deployed 38 times since she … Continue reading Why I Volunteer: Debbie Lutskas
Meet Gloria Hirashima, chair of the first virtual Heroes event in NW WA
Gloria Hirashima (center left) with her husband and fellow Red Cross volunteers prepare to install smoke alarms in Marysville, WA 2019 By Gordon Williams There are two compelling reasons why the American Red Cross serving Northwest Washington has held Heroes Breakfasts in each of the past 25 years. First, they give the Red Cross a … Continue reading Meet Gloria Hirashima, chair of the first virtual Heroes event in NW WA
Summer fires plus winter rain raise landslide danger
By Gordon Williams The drenching rains of fall and winter have ended the summertime danger of wildfires in Washington state. But now the sequence of fire and rain has set the stage for yet another potential disaster — landslides and mudslides. Thus, heavy rain brought a recent mudslide warning to parts of Western Washington — … Continue reading Summer fires plus winter rain raise landslide danger
How Keely Reinhard and her three “T’s” support the Red Cross
Keely Reinhard on stage at the 2019 Snohomish County Heroes Breakfast By Emily Thornton Keely Reinhard, of Snohomish WA, said she’s liked the Red Cross since about the sixth grade, when she wrote a report on its founder Clara Barton (Clarissa Harlowe Barton). Since then, the now-retiree has donated blood (beginning in college), become a Red … Continue reading How Keely Reinhard and her three “T’s” support the Red Cross
December 18 is Blood Donor Day in WA State
By Mark Walker On almost every day of the week, hundreds of Americans across the nation roll up their sleeves and get down to business. In this case, the product these legions of volunteers deliver comes directly out of their arms as they give blood to bolster supplies and help ensure adequate supplies are available … Continue reading December 18 is Blood Donor Day in WA State
How Karene Gibbs and her sewing machine support the Red Cross
By Gordon Williams Red Cross workers make use of many devices in carrying out their humanitarian mission--from emergency response vehicles to home smoke alarms to water safety gear. For volunteer Karene Gibbs of Walla Walla WA, her device of choice recently was a sewing machine. When Covid-19 first struck, and face masks were in … Continue reading How Karene Gibbs and her sewing machine support the Red Cross
American Red Cross NW Region 