Humboldt CSC Members Respond to Tsunami

On Friday, March 11th at 5am Pacific Standard Time, California Safe Corps members Wayne Martins and Philip Anderson got the call that there had been a magnitude 8.9 earthquake off the coast of Sendai in Japan and a tsunami alert had been issued for Humboldt and Del Norte Counties.

The Humboldt County Chapter of The American Red Cross Safe Corps team responded immediately by opening an evacuation shelter for 102 Humboldt County residents.

Once the tsunami threat was lifted in Humboldt County, the Safe Corps team traveled up to Crescent City to operate a 296 person shelter for the Del Norte County Chapter of the American Red Cross.

The Safe Corps team was able to provide warmth, safety, food and comfort for the affected Del Norte & Humboldt County residents over that tumultuous weekend.

LA Cesar Chavez Day Event

With Cesar Chavez Service Day approaching, it was soon realized that Hildemar Cruz had her mind set. She knew that Habitat for Humanity was the perfect fit. It would be outside, in an area of need, and leave us all with a sense of accomplishment through hard work. Hildi was right on the money by all accounts.

John Vidaurrazaga (who kindly signed out a van at an ungodly hour of the morning) and Felicia Matz arrived at Shatto to pick up Hildi (along with 2 more volunteers she recruited) and Charlie Allen. We arrived in Lynwood at 7:30am and were met there by Angelica Gamboa and our San Gabriel comrades Jennifer Lazo and Lindsay Youngquist. Even (Big Boss) Brian McConnell was there to lend a hand.

We were given a quick briefing and overview of the Habitat for Humanity mission. Then there was a tour of the worksite along with safety rules. Once the introduction was over, we were assigned our various jobs. Most were tasked with cleaning the nearly finished houses by sweeping, scrubbing, and vacuuming. John attached many door stops, Brian sealed sinks, and Felicia and Charlie dug trenches and laid plumbing.
After a brief lunch it was right back to work. Some jobs changed, while others kept digging. Everyone was enjoying themselves and having a good time while working. By all accounts we did a pretty good job. By the time we left, everyone was pretty exhausted. It was a fun day full of fulfillment and knowing we did something positive.

SD DAT Calls

In March, the San Diego California Safe Corps (CSC) members, Dora Arnold and Mariana Vasconcelos responded to three Disaster Response calls. One of them was a Canteen Call, and two were DAT calls. The Canteen Call was a gas leakage in a residential neighborhood and while the firefighters attended to this situation, the San Diego/Imperial Counties American Red Cross provided water, Gatorade, and snacks to the firefighters, to the residents who were affected, and the electrical technicians from San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG & E). The members responded to the DAT Calls by completing Damage Assessment and Client Casework for the clients who were affected in a home fire. It was a great experience for the members to drive to and respond to the Disaster calls.

SD CPR Saturday

On March 19th, the San Diego California Safe Corps (CSC) members, Dora Arnold, Mariana Vasconcelos, and Charlie Allen certified 3, 200 people for the American Red Cross of San Diego/Imperial Counties 20th annual CPR Saturday. Dora and Mariana both taught People Skills and Manikin Skills in the Spanish-speaking section for CPR Saturday. Charlie taught Conscious Choking in the English-speaking section. CPR Saturday San Diego / Imperial Counties American Red Cross is an annual free event held at the San Diego Concourse in Downtown which certifies the public in Adult CPR. The languages which the CPR is taught are; English, Spanish, and American Sign Language.

San Jose CSC members Go to the Dark Side

Silicon Valley teams up with AmeriCorps team from Rebuilding Together

March 31st – To celebrate Cesar Chavez Day 2011, the Silicon Valley girls teamed up with some fellow AmeriCorps members at Rebuilding Together for SERVICE! The members sanded, varnished, and assembled a wooden play set that will be donated to Golden Care Extension, a home for disabled adults and children in San Jose. The home will receive the play set on April 30th, during the non-profit’s Spring Rebuilding Day.

Silicon Valley has further partnered with Rebuilding Together to give free disaster kits to 57 low income, disabled, and elderly homeowners during the month of April. As part of this project, each of the homeowners and their families will be educated on disaster preparedness.

SGPV Members Respond to Their First DAT Call

On February 21st, an emergency call came into the Red Cross office in Pasadena. A fire in Monrovia had destroyed the garages of two houses and damaged the homes themselves, leaving two families out in the cold. Safe Corps members Lindsay and Jennifer donned their hard-hats and vests, responding to the scene to interview the clients and assess damage. With the help of their more experienced fellow DAT members they filled out all of the forms necessary to provide each family with lodging and food for a few nights. The families were in shock as they returned to their homes to find holes in the roof and many possessions damaged or destroyed. Lindsay and Jennifer helped comfort the clients as they collected belongings to see them through the next few days. After all of the families were safely heading to their lodging for the night, the CSC members entered all of the information into the Red Cross’s Client Assistant System, enabling the clients to get the help and follow-up that they needed.

SD CSC Members Teaching Others to Teach CDE

In February, the San Diego California Safe Corps (CSC) members, Dora Arnold and Mariana Vasconcelos co-taught for a Speaker’s Bureau Training for the staff of Jewish Family Services. Jewish Family Services is a resettlement agency which serves refugees and fixed income senior citizens. During the training they taught the staff how to give the American Red Cross Community Disaster Preparedness (CDE) presentation which includes how to I. Make a Plan, II. Build a Kit, and III. Be Informed. The training the staff received will allow them to teach the clients and staff at Jewish Family Services how to prepare for a disaster.

OC Volunteer Opportunity Fair

The success of the Red Cross cannot be attributed to anyone more deserving than the amazing volunteers who dedicate their time, talents, and money to the humanitarian mission of the Red Cross. They make up the identity of the Red Cross and without them, the organization would not be where it is today. That is one of the reasons engaging and recruiting volunteers is such an essential chapter function.

In pursuit of this, CSC member Grady Murphy coordinated the first all-chapter Volunteer Opportunity Fair showcasing our chapter’s new Volunteer Mentoring Program. On February 26th, 2011, over 20 functions and activities across a variety of departments were represented at the event. Function leads were given the opportunity to showcase how their functions contribute to the mission of the American Red Cross to new volunteers looking for ways to donate their talents and time. 25+ new and potential volunteers attended to find out how what their best fit would be within the many opportunities for voluntary service in the organization. CSC member Monique Phan attended to support the Preparedness Education function and recruited a volunteer who is now working to engage the local Indian population. The Volunteer Mentor Program also used the event to kick off their new program which provides experienced volunteers to serve as mentors for new chapter members as they find their place in the mission of the Red Cross. Due to the Fair’s success, the chapter has elected to hold this event 2 more times before the end of the calendar year and on a quarterly basis from then on.

Apartment Fire Response in Humboldt

February started off with a bang for the Humboldt County Safe Corps team. An apartment fire on February 2nd in Arcata left 16 people displaced, 12 of which were college students. There were no serious injuries, but one man did break his wrist after jumping off the balcony to escape the fire. The Safe Corps team worked with the local college to provide immediate care for all the victims, including housing, food, and clothing. The Tri-City-Weekly posted an article about the American Red Cross involvement in the fire: http://www.times-standard.com/tcw/ci_17386775 .

Safe Corps members teach CPR to Project Apple AmeriCorps

In January the California Safe Corps members of LA conducted their first large CPR/FA course to another local AmeriCorps group called the Bellflower Project Apple. Project Apple members work with an after school program of the Bellflower school district. As a result of the large size of the group, the course took three separate Friday sessions. Logistics and course preparation was led by CSC member John Vidaurrazaga who worked with the group contact, Shanti, over the month prior to the initial day.

The Project Apple participants were attentive and generally well humored. John led through the first two Friday sessions and made use of his own great sense of humor to keep the relatively young group engaged. The rest of the LA 7 CSC members checked skills and supplemented information as the course went on. Jean Milan from the Santa Monica chapter came out for the first Friday session which covered the longer section, CPR. As a result the second Friday went by faster since it only covered the First Aid components.

To bring the course to a wrap CSC members Charles Allen and Hildi Cruz went out for a third Friday to cover a make up session. Overall it was a beneficial experience for all of the LA CSC members as instructors and as team players.

Brian and the Tsunami Warning

It was 6:34am in the morning on March 11, 2011 when I awoke to the sound of my work cell phone ringing. From the hotel bed I just looked at the phone ringing on the desk across the room and wondered who the heck could be calling me at this time in the morning. It was Friday morning and I was in Eureka, CA conducting a site visit at the Humboldt County Chapter. I was extremely exhausted because I had been conducting site visits to the Northern California CSC chapters all week. I decided to let the phone go to voicemail.

A minute after I let my work phone go to voicemail my work cell phone and my personal cell phone started to ring. I knew then that something was up and that I had better answer the phone. I looked at my caller ID on my phones and it was the 2 Humboldt County CSC members Wayne and Phillip calling. I answered my work phone and Wayne on the other line told me that there was a tsunami warning for Humboldt County. That woke me up immediately!

After I heard the news from Wayne I decided to go to the front desk of the hotel to see what was going on. I walked to the front desk of the hotel and noticed that the front desk person was in a panic. I told her I knew about the tsunami warning, if Wayne hadn’t informed me about the tsunami warning the sirens that were going off by now would have alarmed me to the fact that something wasn’t right. The lady at the front desk told me that emergency services said that there was no need to evacuate the hotel. They were only evacuating people up to 3rd street. The fact that the hotel was located at 4th street didn’t bring the front desk person or me much comfort.

As I walked back to my hotel room I ran into the young mother that was traveling with her infant son. I met this mother when I first checked into the hotel. When she saw me she immediately remembered that I worked for the American Red Cross. By now she had heard about the tsunami warning and asked me what we should do. I guess she forgot about me telling her that I was more of a grant manager than an emergency responder for the Red Cross. I told her that I was going to swing by the local chapter to see if there was anything I could do or to get any information. I promised her that I would contact her with any news that I got.

It was a little before 8:30am before I arrived at the Humboldt County Chapter. When I got there the place was humming with volunteers responding to the disaster. By the time I got to the chapter they had already opened up a shelter for about 200 people that were evacuated from the coastal areas. Both CSC members, Wayne and Phillip, were already at the shelter serving the evacuated disaster clients.

At the chapter I ran in to Christina Jones Koczera the Disaster Director for the Humboldt County Chapter. Christina is also a former CSC member that served during the 2009-10 program year. I stood there proudly watching as one of my former members stepped up and took control during this time of disaster. As she juggled all her responsibilities Christina found the time to tell me that the 101 Freeway out of town was temporarily closed as a precaution due to the tsunami warning. I asked her if I could be any help at the chapter and she told me that they had it covered. Christina reminded me that if I got stranded in Eureka that I could become a disaster client. She told me I should go back to my hotel and take care of myself first.

I went back to my hotel after I left the chapter. I shared with the young mother the news about the 101 Freeway closure. I then went back to my hotel room.

Once I got back to my room my stomach started to rumble from hunger. All the restaurants in town were closed. It was at this time that I wished I had my disaster supplies kit with me. I usually carry one in my car but I was driving a rental car this week. I ended up grabbing a soda and a stick of beef jerky from a gas station on my way out of town for breakfast (not exactly the breakfast of champions). In the future I will always have my kit with me.

I kept listening to the news and finally at around 11am I heard that the 101 Freeway was open. Once I heard the news I got into my car and headed out of town on my 12 hour drive back to Los Angeles.

SM Members Attend and Event to Promote the ARC

The excitement continues... on the 16th of February, the Santa Monica district office held a chamber mixer event. At this event, we promoted the Red Cross and how we serve local the local community. Once again, the J-Crew (Jean, John and Jun) was present to help out with the event. Jean Milan was in charge of promoting disaster preparedness to the local community. Jonathan, as usual, was our go to guy for the night. And Jun Kim demonstrated CPR and explained its importance. There were a few hundred participants. It was a great opportunity to interact with the Santa Monica community and talk about preparedness and the importance of Red Cross' involvement in the community.

We also got plenty of help from our youth volunteers: Juan, Denise and Yair. They experienced their first Red Cross event and did a fine job helping us throughout the night. Juan practically lives at the chapter and has easily put in about five hundred hours of community service at the American Red Cross of Santa Monica. He never ceases to amaze us with his dedication and commitment. Denise and Yair are also great youth volunteers and they consistently help us out with projects and events. Denise recently gave a preparedness presentation to the entire seventh graders at Lincoln middle school, which will be shared in the next blog.

Volunteers Trained and 500 Disaster Kits Given to Seniors in San Diego

In January the San Diego California Safe Corps (CSC) members, Mariana and Dora, mentored and trained 17 volunteers at the Gary and Mary West Senior Wellness Center. The CSC members taught the seniors and staff at the Senior and Wellness Center how to give the American Red Cross CDE (Community Disaster Education) presentation. The training the volunteers received at the center allows the volunteers to go out into their community and teach their fellow senior citizens how to prepare for a disaster.

Through their work with the Gary and Mary West Senior Wellness Center the members were also able to give out 500 disaster preparedness kits to fixed income seniors. The kits included backpacks, disaster radios, and disaster tubes.

CSC Director Guest Speaks on NHQ Conference Call

by Brian McConnell


At the beginning of December I was approached by Patricia Frustace, Executive Director Grants Office and Organizational Account Management for the National Headquarters of the American Red Cross to speak on the NHQ Grants Management Conference Call on January 18, 2011. The NHQ Grants Management Conference Call is a forum that allows NHQ and chapters from across the nation a place to share their experience with grants (CNCS grants included). Patricia asked me to speak about the California Safe Corps program’s grant matching fund structure. I was honored by this invitation, and in spirit of the One Red Cross movement I gladly accepted the invitation.

Speaking on this conference call is just one example of the work that other Red Cross employees and I have been doing to improve the service and experience for AmeriCorps members serving with the American Red Cross. I have been working with Patricia and other Red Cross AmeriCorps Directors from chapters around the nation since October. I know the information, forms and processes we are sharing are improving the quality and service of the American Red Cross. The group is working hard to ensure that the American Red Cross is fully utilizing the 360 AmeriCorps Members (99 VISTA, 42 AmeriCorps National and 219 AmeriCorps State members) serving in 21 states at over 60 chapters across the nation.

LA Disaster Relief in January

by: Becca Brudzynski


In January, California Safe Corps (CSC) members worked to uphold the The American Red Cross mission to help people affected by disaster. Members of CSC participated in the Disaster Action Team by training to respond to home fires and assist with casework. Thirty-eight clients were contacted by CSC members interested in following up, on the progression of the clients, since receiving aid from The Los Angeles American Red Cross. Furthermore, Members collectively responded to five home fires and helped twenty-six people by providing temporary relief to basic needs like food, shelter, and comfort this month.

Several children received comfort kits with teddy bears, tooth brushes, and activities this month. The DAT team proactively helped a family of nine, seven children and two adults, after a fire devastated their home in Los Angeles. The workers in the Emergency Operations Center and the California Safe Corps members plan to invite the children affected by the fire to a Disaster Awareness Puppet Show. California Safe Corps and The Red Cross Youth Services Department will be holding many educational shows for youth about earthquake and fire safety all around the city of Los Angeles this year.

In addition, two members of the Los Angeles Safe Corps program, Becky Brudzynski and Felicia Matz, and one member from the Santa Monica Safe Corps, Jonathan Quintana, worked with Red Cross disaster relief volunteers in Silverado, California this January. The Silverado community has been devastated by several dangerous mudslides after heavy rain. Homes were completely destroyed. Several homes that received minor and major damage became the subject of a community wide project which attracted volunteers from all around Southern California. CSC members worked alongside volunteer church groups and other Red Cross volunteers to shovel mud from homes, carry buckets, retrieve personal items, carefully handle glass and splintered wood with nails, and aid the families affected by the disaster in salvaging their homes.

Overall, the California Safe Corps members are on the right track to helping people in the Southern California area recover from disasters. The CSC members are currently training to become disaster instructors by co-teaching disaster overview courses to the community. In addition, the members are taking supervisory disaster courses to become strong leaders for when the BIG one (an earthquake) hits the Southern Californian region. Members of CSC will be prepared to work with clients by providing relief and upholding the Red Crosses mission; to provide relief to victims of disaster, and upholding the seven Red Cross principles; Humanity, Impartiality, Neutrality, Independence, Voluntary Service, Unity and Universality.

A Disaster Action Team Call in San Martin

On January 10, the Silicon Valley Chapter dispatcher on duty, Barbara Wood received a call from Cal Fire at around 1 pm. A fire had occurred the night before with clients who needed Red Cross assistance.

This DAT call soon became complicated, as we discovered it involved five families and 19 individuals, none of whom spoke English. We opened a shelter (which was used only as a service center when a church group offered housing to some of the clients and insurance paid for lodging for two other families). We received assistance from the County with Spanish translators. In addition, our DAT Captain John Snyder followed one of the clients to the feed store and purchased feed (not found in the DAT manual), for the clients' 20 chickens, 2 ducks, 9 sheep, 6 goats and a dog whose food had been destroyed. Scott Ilse brought food for the families and the DAT responders at the service center.

It was not your everyday DAT call, but one that ended with everyone warm and dry and with a bed for the night! Happily, all of the clients were taken care of under the great care provided by John Snyder, Gordon Sakai and two new California Safe Corps AmeriCorps members, Autumn Kresha and Amel Ali. Our Mass Care Crew, Karl Matzke, Mo Ghandehari, and Tom Busk, pitched in and assisted as well. Client caseworkers followed up during the week with all of the families - with Anita Moser contacting most of them in Spanish. Disaster Health Services also assisted in helping some of the families.

Santa Monica MLK Day

by Jean Milan

“All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Santa Monica Chapter Safe Corps Crew had a very rewarding experience at our Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. MLK’s message was one of justice, peace, and brotherhood. That spirit was alive during our day of service at the Rosemont Elementary School in L.A. on January 17, 2011. Jun Kim, Jonathan Quintana and myself of the Santa Monica Chapter, along with John Vidaurrazaga from the West Los Angeles Chapter, were able to volunteer through L.A. Works, an organization that gets the community involved in hands-on service projects throughout the Los Angeles area. We signed up to help restore the Rosemont Elementary School. Three-hundred and thirty people were registered and expected to volunteer. When we arrived, it was obvious right away that the amount of people in attendance greatly exceeded this expected number. What was supposed to be a couple hundred volunteers turned out to be nearly 1,400 volunteers. We were all very impressed with the enthusiasm everyone brought to this event.

Many were painting murals, building gardens, creating a new game room and teacher lounge, cleaning and organizing storage spaces, and much more. We were part of the crew organizing storage space and were placed in a group including another AmeriCorps program – The National Civilian Community Corps. We were fortunate to do service alongside some fellow AmeriCorps members and to learn about their program and how they serve the west coast. We made some new friends and have kept in touch with them.

The transformation of the school within only four hours was pretty impressive. The L.A. Works staff commented in a follow-up e-mail, saying that the work the volunteers did that day “brought fresh color and exciting energy to this wonderful campus community.” What an extremely rewarding experience! It was truly wonderful to see how a community of people can come together to accomplish a positive goal.

Humboldt CSC work with Youth

On Saturday January 8th, California Safe Corps Members Wayne Martins and Philip Anderson launched the first ever youth group for the Humboldt County Chapter of The American Red Cross.

On January 17th for MLK Day the youth group volunteered their services at the Humboldt Wildlife Center in Arcata. The youth group graveled a driveway, witnessed a medical procedure on a bird, helped with animal enclosures and sorted through live bird food. The youth group not only learned the value of community service but also the importance of wildlife conservation. Please visit our youth groups Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Humboldt-Red-Cross-Youth-Group/143483865710542?v=info

San Gabriel Pomona Valley CSC members revitalize Youth Corps program

The San Gabriel Pomona Valley Youth Corps, once an active and energetic program comprised of 22 Red Cross clubs has had no presence in the SGPV chapter for about a year and a half. Under the supervision of Bee Kong and with the help of many people at the SGPV chapter, CSC member Lindsay Youngquist has been working on making contact with the youth clubs again and offering her support to them as the new youth advisor for the chapter. With the help of the YFAST instructor Richard Stewart, she managed to get 18 youth club members from Temple City HS and El Monte HS to come out to the chapter to participate in an Emergency Kit Assembly day. Lindsay is also working on establishing bi-monthly meetings at the SGPV chapter for the youth clubs so that they can feel support from the chapter and from other clubs as well. The first meeting was held on Tuesday February 1st and had a turn out of four clubs. Lindsay will continue to reach out to the youth clubs with the hope of restoring the energy and activity that the program once had.

OC CSC MLK Day

by Monique Phan


For MLK Service Day, the Orange County CSC members assembled fruit and vegetable packets for local elementary schools in order to promote healthy diets. During our time at OneOC’s food bank, we met other AmeriCorps members in Orange County and we learned about their service programs. In January, I established a monthly preparedness course with a local women’s shelter as part of my special project. I look forward to the first class in February.

Silicon Valley MLK Day

by Sarah Snyder


There is never a dull day in the lives of the Silicon Valley Chapter California Safe Corps members Sarah Snyder, Autumn Kresha, Crisanta Garcia, Pooja Trivedi, and Amel Ali. While they spend most of their day’s base jumping to ground zero of local disasters, saving cats from burning building and babies from trees they got up but can’t seem to get down, they slowed down the pace to educate the Silicon Valley youth club members for their first Service Day of 2011 on Martin Luther King Day.

House fires are devastating, and in many cases, easily preventable. Many are the result of carelessness: a candle left lit, a stove burner unattended, a forgotten blanket tossed over a space heater. In light of the increase in house fires seen in Santa Clara County in the last two years, the American Red Cross Silicon Valley Chapter’s youth services and CSC AmeriCorps put on a day of fire safety education and awareness. Forty-five middle and high school students woke up early on their day off and showed up for the event, which began with a 9:00am disaster presentation by Red Cross club student officers. Local firefighters were invited to talk about fire safety and tour the clubs around the response vehicles. All participants were then broken down into groups, given packages of fire safety door hangers, and sent out to different neighborhoods to discuss this important issue with members of our community. We distributed 1000 door hangers total and enjoyed hitting the sidewalks and physically starting the conversation with our neighbors in San Jose.

San Diego CSC MLK Day

On Monday, January 17, 2011 in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day San Diego CSC members Mariana and Dora canvassed door to door with a non-profit agency in Chula Vista called PROMOTORAS. The PROMOTORAS agency advocates to the residents of Chula Vista on health and safety issues. The CSC members helped to give fire safety door hangers and American Red Cross flyers to the residents and gave helpful advice on how to prepare themselves to prevent a home fire. The community is predominantly fixed income and Spanish-Speaking in the South Bay. It was a great experience for us to canvass with the PROMOTORAS group and to give advice to the residents of Chula Vista on how to become prepared to prevent a home fire.

CSC ceritifies VISTA Members in CPR/FA

On December 16th and 17th LA CSC members, John Vidaurrazaga and Charles Allen taught and certified the Los Angeles Chapter’s 9 AmeriCorps VISTA members (Taryn Alper, Hilary Anderson, Raymond Jimenez, Amir Mehriary, Bridget Mercier, Lauren Vail, Jessica Stanford, Lisa Klink and Marnie Suss) Adult, Child and Infant CPR and First Aid.

CSC Members attend lecture about Haiti

Steve McAndrew, the Chief of Emergency Operations for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Haiti spoke at the Los Angeles Region office about his work on 12/21/10. He arrived in Haiti in January 2010, just days after the catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the town of Leogane, near the capital city of Port-au-Prince.

CSC members and the chapter staff all sat captivated as we listened to his stories and watched his films about how the various Red Crosses from around the world have responded. Everyday clean water needs to be distributed to thousands of Haitians all over Port au Prince. And the task of rebuilding is formidable to put it mildly. Yet according to Mr. McAndrew, despite all of the logistical and political obstacles, the Haitians people maintain an inspiring amount of optimism and resolve.

Humboldt ARC Youth Group Member Featured in Tri City Weekly

Please follow the link below to read the article from the Tri City Weekly about the work of CSC member Phil Anderson and his work with one of the Humboldt Chapters youth groups members.

http://www.times-standard.com/tcw/ci_17007458

Humboldt Chapter Utilizes Youth Volunteers

The month of December was an excellent month for working with youth volunteers at the Humboldt County Chapter. The Humboldt County Chapter’s Disaster Supply Room was in alarming disarray to the point where it would be extremely difficult to set-up not only the functional components of an emergency shelter, but the shelter itself. Through the hard work of the Humboldt youth volunteers, under the supervision of CSC members Wayne and Phil, the Humboldt County Chapter was able to get its Disaster Supply Room up to speed and emergency ready.

The 11-12 year old youth volunteers put in 16 ½ hours to assist with organizing the Disaster Supply Room. The chapter now has the capacity to not only set-up shelters in the more densely populated areas of Humboldt County but also the outlining rural communities such as Miranda and Willow Creek.

Phil and Wayne also worked with the youth volunteers to construct a shake table to demonstrate the projectile hazards in a room during an earthquake (see picture).

Rose Parade First Aid Stations

The Rose Parade is America’s New Year’s celebration, watched by over 50 million people on TV each year, and seen by over five hundred thousand people in person. The San Gabriel Pomona Valley chapter of the Red Cross helps to support those watching and marching in the parade by providing first aid to people along the parade route. Safe Corps member Jennifer Lazo worked with the various stations providing aid. She assisted six band members during the course of the parade treating wounds and checking vitals. Any severe cases are referred to Pasadena Fire Department paramedic units. In the picture, a band member is comforted and checked out after dropping out of the parade. This service frees up the fire department to respond to emergency calls, and brings further visibility of the Red Cross in the community. The emergency needs of all those participating in the parade and watching it are met by over 150 Red Cross volunteers on parade day.