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Central Coast
Chapter Newsletter
July 2023
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UP FRONT: Please Join Us for our Volunteer BBQ The event will begin at 11 a.m. on Thursday, September 21st. at the Santa Cruz Chapter office, 2960 Soquel Ave. Santa Cruz, CA.
We look forward to gathering as a Chapter to commensurate, play some fun games and enjoy great food. If you received an award but did not attend the Volunteer Recognition Event, we will be handling these awards at the BBQ. We will also have ‘Thank You’ swag for you all.
Please register to attend here, you may also email Lauren Baker at [email protected] or call/text at 925-628-3279.
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NEWS & NOTES: From your local chapter
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Carmel Office Update
In keeping with an ongoing commitment to achieving greater operational and financial efficiency, the Red Cross Central Coast Chapter will be selling its building in Carmel-By-The-Sea. As we prepare the building for sale, we encourage everyone to pack and move personal and department belongings before Thursday, July 20th.
A new site selection process in Monterey County is ongoing and we can use your help! As part of our commitment to maintaining a strong presence in the community, we are looking for partner or shared space that can serve as home base for Central Coast Chapter operations. If you have any ideas or leads on potential shared or partner spaces, please let us know by filling out this form.
The Red Cross has a strong community presence, and we will continue to remain fully committed to collecting lifesaving blood products, disaster preparedness and response activities, services to military members, veterans and their families, and health and safety training throughout the Central Coast.
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Thank You Central Coast Board Members!
Our Board Members achieved100% in pledge participation and completion of payment in FY23, resulting in giving almost $80K and influencing $190k! For the FY24 board campaign, we are currently at 85% with an incredible $4,000 average gift per board member. Thank you all for your generosity and continued support!
A special thank you to Daniel Chibaya for his support in the grant that we just received from Montage Health for $25K. This grant supports the Central Coast Chapter Home Fire Campaign financial assistance program. We thank all our Board Members for taking on new challenges, projects and tasks, for engaging and introducing Red Cross to new partners and your commitment as a Board Member to continue providing the best we can to the people of our community. Because of each of you, we continue to increase our outreach and services in our diverse community and increase our client, volunteer, and employee satisfaction.
We would also like to make a special acknowledgment to the following board members who are being elected to their second three-year term: Megan Erk, Christina Morales and Dan Ripke. Cherie Robideaux is being elected to her fourth three-year term. Again, thank you for all your continued support! In this FY24, we will focus on adding additional board members and community volunteer leaders. If you know of anyone that may be interested in joining, please reach out to Michele Averill at [email protected].
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Biomedical Services: Blood Donor Ambassador Virtual Meeting
Please join us on Friday, July 28th at 10 a.m. for a Blood Donor Ambassador Virtual Meeting.
In this meeting we will honor our volunteers, provide regional updates & progress, have interactive activities and address eligibility that is changing for the MSM deferral process August 7th.You may register to attend here.
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‘In the Know’ with Disaster Cycle Services:
- We have one Central Coast Member deployed to Guam, Jamshid Kiani.
- One Central Coast Member has been hired as a TDE (Temporary Disaster Employee) in support of the Arkansas disaster event.
- The Central Coast Home Fire Team successfully executed our last event to wrap up fiscal year 2023 in the City of Watsonville where we helped 46 homes, installed 109 smoke alarms and prepared 198 residents.
- A huge thank you to the following appointment-based install teams who knocked it out of the ballpark by helping prepare additional homes on the Central Coast. Those volunteer teams include Dennis Alexander, Penny Mount, Vanessa Hernandez, Brenda Bodewitz, Jamie Finch, Joey Young, Annamarie Gotti, Tom Wiley. These volunteers also helped make 44 more households safer and installed 81 more alarms on the Central Coast during the month of June for appointment-based installs.
- Another huge thank you to our DCS Members that were able to log in their hours before year end.
- Big thank you to our Logistics team who was able to get all 5 shelter trailers ready since they had been used during our March storm events. By preparing the trailers this ensures that we are prepared for our next disaster on the Central Coast.
- Please Welcome our newest DCS member, Sarahi Juarez!
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The next DCS Monthly meeting is scheduled for July 26th at 6 p.m. and will be held at the Santa Cruz Chapter office. There will be a Logistics meeting prior beginning at 5 p.m. for all team members, and any volunteers interested in Logistics are welcome to attend as well. These meetings will be a hybrid of in-person and virtual, those interested in joining virtually please reach out to [email protected] for login info.
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Our Disaster Action Teams
During the month of June, our Central Coast teams helped numerous families and individuals impacted by disasters.
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Monterey County: 2 DAT cases and 6 clients were assisted with food, emergency housing, clothing and counseling.
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Santa Cruz County: 1 DAT case and 11 clients were assisted with food, emergency housing, clothing and counseling.
Big thanks to our disaster responders! We could not make all this possible without them.
For more info or to become a DAT volunteer, please contact your local Disaster Program Manager:
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Leadership Development Camp
More than 120 youth delegates from across our region attended our annual Leadership Development Center (LDC), 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 volunteer needs we have on various teams in the Central Coast Chapter. These include our work with Sound the Alarm installation events, Youth Services, Disaster Services, Biomedical Services, at our office front desks, and many more.
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OTHER UPDATES: from the American Red Cross
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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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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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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 [email protected].
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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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