Relief for the Rising Sun

Before the American Red Cross rose out of bed last Friday, devastation in Japan had already broken loose. The sun wasn’t even up as I flipped on the news to see bold red headlines and images of people clinging to the remnants of what used to be their own homes swept away by waves and swallowed by cracks in the earth.

I knew it was going to be a challenging day for the Red Cross -- a day of perseverance.

We are not alone in anything we do. Just as we stand by victims’ sides for comfort, we have our own partners who we rely on for support despite any daily event.

One of our most trusted partners in times like these, Threadless, never fails to utilize its talent to do good. It was only a matter of hours before we got word the original T-shirt company would donate 100% of proceeds to Japanese relief efforts and honor those affected by including their memory in a design for hope. They literally rose to the challenge faster than we would see Friday’s sun set.

By voting for your favorite t-shirt online featuring Japan, you can help directly, and look pretty cool wearing the winning design at the same time, too.

Just as we stand by Japan in times of crisis and hardship, can you stand to rise in times of relief? We promise it comes in your size.

Written by Katie Wilkes

By the Grace of Coffee

Most days, I ride my bike to work. I'm not the only one who does it. Usually, at least 4 bikes can be found in our foyer. My bike is the red one with a metal commuter coffee mug that used to be red and, now, isn't. Day after day, I undergo the same routine. Wake up. Make coffee. Do all of the stuff that's less important than the coffee. Thank the coffee. Bike to work with the coffee. Sneak a sip at red lights.

Facing the Chicago weather has stripped the color off my commuter mug. I bike for two reasons. One, coffee tastes even better when you're cold. Two, facing the brutal elements keeps me grounded.

As a Red Cross staff member, being grounded matters. At the American Red Cross, we encounter about 3-4 families a day who have lost everything in a fire or flood. They face the elements until we help them find shelter. Our job is to provide authentic relief in the form of food, shelter and comfort. Many Red Cross volunteers and staff choose to bike to work regardless of the weather, so we remember that our 3-4 fires a day are our client's 1 fire in a lifetime.

But you've heard this story before. Our blog is full of stories about fire response. The story that sometimes goes untold is another group of people who, like us, face the unforgiving elements everyday and go to every fire. Firefighters face fire, wind, cold, and water most days. Their work is tireless.

Today, I responded to the large 3-alarm fire that struck N. Lincoln Ave. Watch our video for detail. Drifts of high-expansion-foam used to suffocate the fire covered the streets. As firefighters fought the blaze, one said to me, "I worry that they won't stay hydrated," as she looked up at the several others who were cutting through the roof with a chainsaw in an area that continued to reignite, relentlessly. Brown smoke billowed against the crisp, blue sky behind them. Today, no one needed our help except the firefighters. We sent a dozen bottled waters across the long tower ladder that stretched from one of the firetrucks to the burning roof -- their lifeline to escape the blaze. Below the burning building, Red Cross volunteers provided hot coffee and cocoa to the firefighters on the ground.

Tonight the foam will be replaced with snow. Colder temperatures will mean hotter fires. The storm winds will spread the blazes quickly leaving only still ash behind. The dichotomies are real and sobering for firefighters and Red Cross disaster volunteers.

As we talked with them about what they needed, we could see our breath. Our hands clench the coffee to stay warm. Relief. Who needs it, who gives it, and what form it will take is rarely clear.
Today, relief was coffee.

Tonight it will take some other form when the storm hits. Be a part of warmth. Donate or volunteer.

The Eastland Disaster - the 94th Anniversary

July 24 is an important date in Greater Chicago Red Cross history. It was on this day in 1915 that the Chapter provided its first disaster response just six weeks after it was founded. Despite the abbreviated time since the Chapter’s founding, the Greater Chicago Red Cross was on the scene of a steam boat that had rolled over in the Chicago River within one hour of the catastrophe.

This was the largest disaster in Chicago history. Of the more than 2,500 Western Electric employees that had boarded the steam boat, 844 lost their lives. During the initial rescue effort, when the wholesale grocer’s building was set up as a command center near the disaster scene, the Red Cross quickly secured enough operators to work the switchboard and set up offices for other assisting agencies. When the Armory was opened as a central morgue, Red Cross established first aid stations and rooms for families to rest. The Red Cross also supervised installation of extra phones in the Armory before family members were admitted. Red Cross nurses were on hand to help families deal with the trauma of losing loved ones.

A third Red Cross relief site was opened at the Western Electric plant, located in the neighborhood where most of the affected families lived. City Health Department nurses visited homes of 500 families known to need relief and recorded the information on Red Cross forms. The nurses called into the relief site at Western Electric when they found a family with urgent needs. Immediately, a relief worker from Red Cross or Western Electric would leave to visit the family, taking whatever the nurse said would be needed, including cash, a physician or an interpreter.

The aid didn’t stop once the initial shock of the incident came to a close. The Red Cross continued to provide monetary and medical assistance – as well as guidance to help them rebuild their lives – for three years following the event.

The Greater Chicago Red Cross response to the situation established the organization as a professional relief force and post-crisis stronghold in Chicago. We’ve been here for 94 years, and we’ll continue to be here to help people in the future.

--Gentry Lassiter is an intern in the Marketing & Communications department of the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago.

Thanksgiving for the Red Cross

Yes! We should all be thankful for the Red Cross--just like fire fighters, we are rescuing people all the time. Yes, we rescue them from facing nowhere to lie down in safety after a fire or any other disaster, small and large. We just don't stop, ever.

Why am I thankful, personally?

After my first house fire, I stood alongside a family in the frigid night, all and kids in pajamas, helpless as their second story apartment smoldered. They lost everything, but their skins. There were hundreds more over the years. I went to wildfires where only the nails remained. To hurricanes where families continued to live in the smashed up hulls of their trailer homes. And what have I learned? Don't fuss over what you have, care about what you give.

It's the little ways in which I've changed which mean big things in my life. I went through four years living in San Francisco with three pieces of furniture. When I moved back to Chicago, my parents felt sorry for me and donated some of theirs. I never missed the furniture. It really doesn't matter. Through my Red Cross lens, I saw this all being gone in an instant.

Tomorrow and always, I give thanks for the privilege I have to help other people every day. And to know that my life is richer because of the Red Cross, even though, I'm back to having no furniture:)