Putting things into perspective

The Red Cross is an incredible organization that does amazing work, but for those of us fortunate enough to work here, there are days when it presents the same frustrations as any other job. Unlike other places, however, the Red Cross often snaps you back into reality and reminds you why we work so hard for our communities.

Sunday morning, our Buffalo DAT volunteers responded to two separate fires in Orchard Park and on Fillmore Ave in the City. The latter was an especially difficult situation, as a seven-year-old lost his life in the fire. Such tragedies unfortunately heighten the media interest, and Sunday afternoon I received a call from a local television station looking for more information on how the Red Cross is helping the family deal with this unthinkable situation. Because our volunteers were no longer on the scene and my wife had gone to the movies, the reporter came to my house. Doing an interview from your front step about a fire that claimed a seven-year-old while your own seven-year-old is watching intently from the window really puts things into perspective. I can't begin to imagine what this family is going through, but I am so proud to be a small part of an organization that brings some hope and comfort to these neighbors and countless others like them each day.

Unfortunately, this situation is not unique. In the first three months of 2014, there have been ten fire deaths in the 17 counties that make up our Western New York/Finger Lakes Region. In an effort to change those statistics, the Red Cross is hosting eight "Team Firestoppers" events across the Region this Saturday. Working with Project Paradigm and the Children's Fire & Burn Fund, volunteers will be providing people in high-risk communities with potentially lifesaving fire safety and emergency preparedness information. We'll also be providing 800 free smoke detectors to help make these families safer. If we can help prevent even just one tragic story like those above, it will be well worth the effort.

A Meeting Nine Years in the Making



Imagine having someone cook for you for years and never seeing their face.  For nine years, Helen didn’t know who Darlene was. They didn’t even know each other’s names. Then, on one March morning the two met and ate together. It was a literal depiction of the Meals on Wheels program in motion.





Darlene Wilcox, Red Cross Cook
Speaks with the Media

Darlene has been a cook for the American Red Cross for nine years and Helen has been a client that entire time. Darlene graciously accepted an invitation as did Helen to sit down and eat a meal together Darlene herself helped cook. This meeting illustrated the impact of one person and one partnership in the lives of some many others.

How does the partnership work? The American Red Cross cooks prepare and package the meals. Visiting Nurse Service volunteer drivers deliver the meals to hundreds of clients in the area. More than 1,500 people were served more than 250,000 meals last year. What better way to show that collaboration than having this meeting?

If you want to see the actual story, the four major news stations in Rochester covered the meeting. The links to the story are below.

http://www.13wham.com/community/features/bright-spot/stories/bright-spot-ladies-lunch-165.shtml

http://www.whec.com/article/stories/s3367841.shtml

http://rochester.twcnews.com/content/search/721174/more-than-a-meal/

 

 



 

#SpringItOn 2014

It’s been a long cold winter but Spring is here believe it or not! To celebrate the new season why not Spring It On?

#SpringItOn is United Way’s Day of giving in Erie and Niagara Counties as well as some surrounding communities happening Thursday, March 20 at 8am through Friday, March 21 at 8am.  More than 200 area non-profits signed up to take part in the event which is designed to make the community aware of these charitable organizations that do amazing work for those in need in our community.

So how can you help the event and the American Red Cross on this day which falls during Red Cross Month? You can visit www.springiton.org/RedCrossBuffaloNiagara or www.springiton.org/arcswny make a donation. You can also share the link with your friends and family via social media such as Twitter and Facebook.  

Our goal for this year in the Buffalo Niagara Region is $5,000 and in the Southwestern Region it is $1,000. Why? The reason is simple. The average cost for the American Red Cross to provide food, shelter and clothing for a family of four after a house fire is $1,000. $5,000 could help five families in the community should they have to deal with a fire in their home. Here in Western New York, the American Red Cross responds to an average of two fires a day as well as other disasters.  Please help us to continue to provide for those when the unexpected happens so get out there and #SpringItOn!

Red Cross is #Blue4Ben

If you've watched the news or followed the social media accounts of Western New Yorkers the past week or so, you've heard about #Blue4Ben. The story of Ben Sauer, a little boy battling a brain tumor, has touched the entire community, and we here at the Red Cross are no different.

Photo courtesy http://bensauer.blogspot.com/

We recently learned that one of our longtime Ombudsman volunteers, David Lombardo, is Ben's Great Grandfather. David has been part of the Red Cross family since 2001, making regular visits to help the residents of Brompton Heights assisted living facility in Williamsville. Today, the staff and residents of Brompton Heights are repaying David's kindness, going #BlueForBen by wearing the youngster's favorite color and raising funds to help the family.

We may be the RED Cross, but we're also #Blue4Ben. Even before learning about the connection, we donated a Red Cross basket, including BASH*2014 tickets, that was part of the auction at a fundraiser over the weekend. Now, this story has touched us personally, and we will be there to support David and his family through these difficult times, just as he has supported countless others during more than a decade as a Red Cross volunteer.

We're pulling for you, Ben, and for all the other children and families fighting similar battles.