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The American Red Cross

 

 

Tarry

20 Years
With the Red Cross

Tarry Hilliard, Health & Safety Director for the Tompkins County American Red Cross, celebrated her 20-Year Anniversary with the Chapter on June 18. Originally, Tarry worked in Homeless Services and then in Emergency Services before becoming the H&S director, a position she has held for the past 16 years.

Tarry loves what she does for the Red Cross and that is why she has been here so many years. She is totally commited to the mission of the Red Cross and willing to go the extra mile for the people we serve here in Tompkins County.

2010
Spirit of Excellence Employee:
Trish Chevallard
Trish

Congratulations to Trish Chevallard, Homeless Services Case Manager and the recipient of the 2010 Tompkins County American Red Cross Employee Spirit of Excellence Award.

This award is given to an employee who has exhibited excellence in professional/technical and/or support service and management. The employee shows a commitment to the Red Cross Mission and their job.

According to her supervisor, Trish goes above and beyond what is expected of her on a regular basis. She is an inspiration to the staff and her delivery of services seems effortless and natural with endless energy and smiles.

 

VoM title

Danielle Burlingame
July Volunteer-of-the-Month

Danielle

Danielle has been volunteering with the Red Cross for just a couple months but has already made a big impact at the Emergency Shelter and Friendship Center. She comes in twice a week and does whatever is needed – cleaning out refrigerators, cleaning the rooms, serving lunch, answering phones. She enjoys having a variety of tasks to keep her busy. Click here for more about Danielle.

Raihana Zaman
June Volunteer-of-the-Month

Raihana

Raihana Zaman, RN, has been the medical face of our Emergency Services for the past 12 years. Over those years, her title has changed many times as she took on more responsibilities – Health Services Lead, Disaster Health Services Lead, Staff Health Lead and Chapter Health Reviewer for the Tompkins County Chapter. Click here for more about Raihana

Frank Hoban
May Volunteer-of-the-Month

Frank Hoban

Volunteering comes easy to Frank Hoban. Before moving to Ithaca from Chicago in 2006, he was a 20-year volunteer at a local credit union. He liked working with non-profit employees... Click here for more about Frank

Ray Feuga
APRIL Volunteer-of-the-Month
Ray Feuga 

Ray Feuga is a Cornell Senior. He is also an EMT First Responder for Cornell Emergency Medical Services, putting in 20 to 24 hours of on-call time each week. Two and half years ago...   Click here to learn more about Ray.

Adriana Lara
MARCH Volunteer-of-the-Month
Adriana Lara

Adriana is only with us temporarily as her husband works on his MBA at Cornell. Her graphic designs skills have helped us update our marketing materials. Click here to learn more about her.

 

The American Red Cross Increases Aid to Flood-Ravaged Pakistan

Financial support and relief supplies
totaling $5 million are sent to help
flood-affected communities

 

 

Women Swimmin

The Tompkins County American Red Cross lent its support to the 7th Annual Women Swimmin' event on August 14th. Red Cross blankets warmed chilled swimmers as they emerged from the choppy waters of Cayuga Lake.The event raises funds for Hospicare and Palliative Care Services of Tompkins County.

Hurricane-WATCH

 

HURRICANE EARL Update:
The American Red Cross is on alert and increasing its preparations for Hurricane Earl, as this category 4 storm gains strength in the Atlantic Ocean and heads up the East Coast. We will continue to track the storm and update this site with information about how the Red Cross is helping people impacted by Hurricane Earl.

1) East Coast Cities Vulnerable and Overdue for a Major Hurricane

2) Four Deadly Storms that
Looked Like Hurricane Earl

3) How You Help When Help
Is Needed Most

4) Red Cross Readiness & Response

5) Red Cross Responds to Earl in the Caribbean

5)

WASHINGTON, Thursday, September 02, 2010 — The American Red Cross is on the ground in fourteen states along the East Coast as Hurricane Earl heads toward North Carolina with sustained winds of 140 mph.

Red Cross shelters are expected to open this afternoon in North Carolina, and additional shelters are poised to open in New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, with emergency planning continuing in ten other states along the coast. Up-to-date shelter location information is readily available on www.redcross.or by clicking “Find a Shelter.”

 

Hurricane and tropical storm watches and warnings have been issued by the National Hurricane Center from North Carolina to Maine. More than 350 trained Red Cross disaster workers have been deployed to North Carolina, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, along with more than 60 emergency vehicles.  

“Hurricane Earl is big and powerful, and even a glancing blow will mean high winds and flooding,” said Joe Becker, senior vice president, Red Cross Disaster Services. “The Red Cross is ready – from the Carolina coast to Maine – and people in those areas should be prepared, too. We urge residents to stay informed and be prepared should the storm affect their areas.”

In North Carolina, additional Red Cross shelters are on standby to open if needed.  The Red Cross has deployed 183 disaster workers to the state to support efforts there, along with 37 emergency response vehicles and two trailers of additional disaster relief supplies to add to what is already in the state.

Should the storm turn toward the New York coastal area, shelter locations have been identified in Nassau and Suffolk counties and New York City.

Further up the coast in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, shelters are ready to open and 171 disaster workers have deployed to the area to assist those who may be affected by the Category 4 hurricane. The Red Cross has 24 emergency response vehicles in the two states, with two trailers of disaster relief supplies on the way to supplement what is already available in the area.

The Red Cross is working with various state, county and local government officials to determine what their areas will need. Emergency planning is taking place in North Carolina, South Carolina, New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.  

People who are evacuating can register on the Red Cross Safe and Well Website, accessible at www.redcross.org, so that friends and relatives can find out how they are. For those who don’t have internet access, call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) to register yourself and your family. Follow the prompts for disaster information. 

The Red Cross pre-positions supplies near disaster prone areas to speed up the time it takes to respond to storms like Hurricane Earl. This ability to respond quickly is due to the financial support in advance of disasters by companies and organizations that are members of the Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP). Members of the ADGP program include Altria Group, American Express, AXA Foundation, Cisco Foundation, ConAgra Foods, Darden Restaurants, Inc., FedEx Corporation, GE Foundation, General Motors Foundation, The Home Depot Foundation, John Deere Foundation, Kimberly-Clark Corporation. Lowe's Companies, Inc., Merck, Morgan Stanley, Nationwide Insurance Foundation, Northrop Grumman, Ryder Charitable Foundation, State Farm, State Street Foundation, Target, The TJX Companies, Inc., UnitedHealthcare and UPS.

The storms in the Atlantic Ocean are causing powerful rip currents. The Red Cross advises anyone visiting the shore areas to swim only on lifeguard protected beaches and within designated swimming areas.

To make a financial donation to the Red Cross to help people affected by this storm and other disasters here in the United States and around the world, people can click, call or text - visit www.redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS, or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.  The storm may also impact blood collections in the affected areas. To find out how you can be a blood donor, visit www.redcrossblood.org

About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies nearly half of the nation's blood; teaches lifesaving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization — not a government agency — and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit www.redcross.org or join our blog at http://blog.redcross.org.

 

 

 

American Red Cross Releases
Five Year Report on Response to Hurricane Katrina

 

WASHINGTON — Five years after a hurricane season that wreaked havoc on the Gulf Coast, the American Red Cross today released “Bringing Help, Bringing Hope,” a report that details the Red Cross response to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma and the ensuing years of recovery for the survivors.

“Five years ago, the American public responded to Katrina with unprecedented generosity,” said Russ Paulsen, executive director of the Hurricane Recovery Program at the Red Cross. “Looking back, I think they can be proud of what their contributions accomplished.”

The Red Cross gave 1.4 million families—approximately 4.5 million people—emergency financial assistance in response to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, which was 19 times more than the previous record. Donors gave the organization a total of $2.2 billion for people affected by the storms, which helped the Red Cross provide:

  • Shelter for survivors across 31 states and the District of Columbia
  • Hot meals and snacks
  • Financial assistance for survivors to purchase groceries, clothing, diapers and other basic needs; and money for people to return home, make home repairs and get back to work
  • Physical and mental health services to help them cope with stress and ease the trauma
  • Tools to help survivors chart a path to recovery
  • Disaster preparedness training so people know the steps to take to protect themselves and their families

“Never before had the Red Cross served so many people after a disaster, and never before had so many people come forward to help,” said Paulsen. “But we learned that there are some disasters that are so big that no agency—government or nonprofit—can do it all. We learned that everyone needs to play a part.”

One critical lesson was that the Red Cross needed to increase its capacity to respond and build partnerships with other organizations that can help in large events. As a result, the Red Cross established a nationwide warehouse system and pre-positioned more than two Katrinas’ worth of disaster relief supplies in warehouses—enough to support 350,000 shelter residents. It also enhanced local, state and national-level planning efforts to plan for how it would respond to large-scale disasters and created new partnerships with national, state and local groups to help ensure that all segments of the community are served after a disaster.

In the past five years, the Red Cross expanded the number of trained disaster volunteers from 25,000 to nearly 95,000, including nearly 50,000 available to travel to disasters around the country. The organization also created tools for the public to use during a disaster, including a National Shelter System accessible online, and a “Safe and Well” website to reconnect families during disasters, including through social media. 

“The hurricanes of 2005 tested us all,” said Paulsen. “Although we’re on better footing than we were five years ago, every individual and community has to be on board in order for our country to be more disaster-ready. There is much more that we as a nation can do. Everyone—government, businesses, non-profits and the faith community—needs to work together to have better prepared communities,” said Paulsen.  

The report, “Bringing Help, Bringing Hope: The American Red Cross Response to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma,” is available at http://www.redcross.org/www-files/Documents/pdf/corppubs/Katrina5Year.pdf.

 

 

 



The American Red Cross
A Decade in Photos
 

 

Red Cross Online Training Link