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Bay Area Chapter Newsletter
July 2023
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We had a blast at Alameda's 46th annual Fourth of July Parade! This is the longest parade in the nation with a route that spans 3.3 miles and draws over 60,000 spectators! We enjoyed celebrating unity, resilience, and the spirit of giving back to our community alongside some impressive floats, dance troops, marching bands and other community groups! View pictures
taken by Ash Mantri and newest volunteer photographer,
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NEWS & NOTES: from your local chapter
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Bay Area Chapter Highlights: Here are just a few of the many activities that make the Bay Area Chapter — and the people affiliated with it — so very special:
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Alameda County: Volunteers are needed in Alameda County to staff our tabling events this month. With the warmer weather, we find ourselves with more opportunities to get out into the community and spread the word about preparedness, smoke alarm installation, and volunteering with the Red Cross. Our next tabling event will be at the Allen Temple Health Fair on Saturday, July 15, from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Please sign up here if you can join us. No previous tabling experience is required.
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Our next Shelter Skill Builder will be on Saturday, July 29 from 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., we will be practicing using the new Shelter Client Intake App and Food Safety and Serving procedures. All skill levels are welcome. This is a great time to put the skills you learned in class to the test, to meet your sheltering team members, or to find out if it's a good fit! Click here to sign up. If you have questions about these events, please email Katie.Sullivan6@redcross.org.
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Contra Costa: Our final Sound the Alarm event to end the Fiscal Year was held at the Willows at Bethel Island on Saturday, June 24. We were successful in getting 16 homes made safer and more appointments for another day. The local Contra Costa Fire Department stopped by as well. Thanks to all our volunteers and ConFire for making this mini-event a success!! Click here to view photos of volunteers in action. For details to assist in our future lifesaving opportunities email Natalie Manier at Natalie.Manier@redcross.org.
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San Mateo: Many thanks to our San Mateo County preparedness team for saving lives by handling appointment-based calls to visit 12 homes, making 29 residents safer and installing 60 smoke alarms in June. They also delivered Prepare with Pedro presentations to 112 students in Daly City and 50 students in Redwood City. They also demonstrated Hands-Only CPR to 10 people at the American Legion. For information on how to sign up to help, email LouAnne Williams at LouAnne.Williams@redcross.org.
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Our Disaster Action Teams - During the month of June, our American Red Cross Bay Area teams helped numerous families and individuals impacted by disasters. Big thanks to our disaster responders!
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Alameda County: 28 DAT cases and 58 clients were assisted with food, emergency housing, clothing and counseling.
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Contra Costa County: 14 DAT cases and 41 clients were assisted with food, emergency housing, clothing and counseling.
- San Francisco County: 16 DAT cases and 22 clients were assisted with food, emergency housing, clothing and counseling.
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San Mateo County: 13 DAT cases and 31 clients were assisted with food, emergency housing, clothing and counseling.
Our big thanks to these responders, as we could not have carried out all of these 71 incredible responses and served 152 clients without them.
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San Leandro DAT Response
A big shout-out to Sully Sullivan and her Alameda County DAT team for their fantastic response to a 42-unit multifamily fire in San Leandro on June 27th. Sully’s team provided care, comfort and dinner to the people displaced at the scene and they also were ready to open a shelter!
Fortunately, the clients were able to find another lodging solution, so her team stepped up again on Friday to open a service center to help clients to meet their needs while they’re displaced. Thanks to those involved for a job well done!
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Leadership Development Camp
More than 120 youth delegates from across our region attended our annual Leadership Development Center last week, a 4-day conference at Loma Mar’s Redwood Glen Camp jam-packed with engaging activities and speakers. They cultivated core leadership skills, participated in disaster preparedness workshops, learned lifesaving skills, heard from leadership, enjoyed s’mores and so much more! Here’s to these amazing philanthropists, a lifetime of happy memories and new friendships! View pictures from LDC here. |
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Volunteer Opportunities
There are a number of volunteers needs we have on various teams in the Central Coast Chapter. These include our work with the Sound the Alarm installation events, with Youth Services, Disaster Cycle Services, Biomedical Services, and many more.
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OTHER UPDATES: from the American Red Cross
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International Humanitarian Law Discussion: Dead Clothing, Where Does It Go? The Challenge of Sustainability and Environment
Join our next discussion on Thursday, July 20 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. PT with our guest speaker Dr. Lisa Lake, a pioneer in the Australian sustainable fashion movement, Director of a new Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Fashion and Textiles at the University of Technology Sydney.
Her book, “Sustainability with Style,” was first published in 2012 and launched her career in sustainable fashion. Her travels around the world helped her dedicate and focus more on sustainable fashion.
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Empowering Young Hearts: Fifth Graders Fundraise for Turkey-Syria Earthquake Relief
The students in Ms. Mary Horath’s 5th grade class at Gateway School in Santa Cruz were moved to help when they heard about the 7.8 magnitude Turkey-Syria earthquake on February 6, 2023.
The students held a school-wide walk-a-thon to raise money for disaster relief and response efforts. They went door-to-door to collect pledges, put up posters, and encouraged their classmates to participate. They even bought, sliced, and passed out orange slices to the walk-a-thon participants. All of their hard work paid off: They raised more than $15,000, which they were eager to donate to the American Red Cross. Read the full story in our blog.
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Hablo Español Buttons Available!
Do you speak Spanish and want to proudly let others know they can comfortably communicate with you in Spanish too? Connect with your local Disaster Program Manager to snag a button to wear when you’re on a DAT call, community event, media interview, etc.!
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IBEA: Red Cross at San Francisco Pride Parade
On June 25, our dedicated volunteers proudly represented the Red Cross at the San Francisco Pride Parade. This parade was a huge success because of you! We’d like to thank our volunteers, staff, family and friends for their commitment, time and support.
As we start planning for next year, check here for the fabulous photos that our photographers, Gabriel Williams and Ash Mantri, took during the parade.
If you’d like to be part of the Pride Initiative or join us in the IBEA taskforce please email IBEA@redcross.org.
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Don't let the blood supply take a dip this summer!
It's the season for beach days & vacays, but the need for blood doesn't take a vacation.
Every 2 seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood. Your donation is needed now to help save lives. Book a time with the Red Cross: rcblood.org/appt
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