After a Fire in Rogers Park, Rich is on the Scene

Yesterday, our disaster action team volunteer Rich Arons responded to a fire in the Rogers Park neighborhood. Pictured here, he’s assessing the damage from the fire. Soggy, torn-out insides from a Chicagoan’s home lay at his feet. You can tell from his gear that Rich knows what to expect at a fire. A truly dedicated volunteer, Rich recently received a pin recognizing 50 years of service to the Red Cross. In the past year alone, Rich responded to 48 local disasters with the Red Cross. He goes to help. He is there to stand by people as they go through what could be the worst day of their lives. At this fire, Rich helped give two people immediate Red Cross relief for food and clothing. Thank you, Rich, for all you do!

To learn more about how you can help local disaster victims, visit www.chicagoredcross.org/donate.

Evanston Fire Displaces Dozens of Men

When the American Red Cross was told that dozens of men were displaced by a fire at the YMCA where they lived late in the evening on July 3rd; volunteers quickly opened a shelter. We made sure that these men had a cool place to sleep, special needs were met (those in wheelchairs needed certain accommodations to be comfortable overnight) and that they had the comforts they needed to make their time away from home bearable.

What level of importance would you assign to things like having a cool place to sleep on a hot summer day and being able to brush your teeth, see kind faces and eat nutritious meals-when you're forced to be away from home?

I’m not sure what I expected when I arrived at the shelter but I can tell you it wasn’t what I found. I’m often surprised by the people I meet on disasters and this group was no different.

They were all colors, shapes, sizes and ages-in all manner of dress from business suits to workout clothes. Some sat quietly reading books or working on laptops, others slept on Red Cross cots in the gym and many gathered in small groups, talking and waiting for news about their home.

Muhammed, an entrepreneur, told me he was launching a new business; although he was evacuated from his residence he grabbed his briefcase, coffee samples and brochures about his product on the way out; he shared these things with me when he found out I was a coffee lover. Then there was Joseph, he had worked in telecom in D.C. for several years; in fact he was there during 9-11 and we talked about the Red Cross and how we helped and how surreal that whole day was; he told me about having to walk 8 miles home that day because all public transportation had been closed. He relocated to Chicago, moved into a 3-bedroom home and worked for a large business development and consulting firm-until recently when the economy started to tumble. He lost his job and home and ultimately moved into the YMCA while searching for new employment. Joseph said, “this fire, it’s just a temporary setback. I’m glad it’s July 4th and not January 4th; the cold would be a whole different story. It’s a beautiful day, we had a place to sleep, friendly people to care for us and good food. We’re doing just fine.”

Martha Carlos is the Senior Manager of Marketing and Communications at the American
Red Cross of Greater Chicago, carlosm@usa.redcross.org

Take a Class in Honor of National CPR/AED Awareness Week!

The sun is shining and the birds are chirping which means one thing…it’s National CPR/AED (Automated External Defibrillation) Awareness Week! According to the American Heart Association, effective bystander CPR when provided immediately after cardiac arrest, can double a victim’s chance of survival. The American Red Cross offers a wide range of CPR/AED training classes that will prepare you for emergency situations. So, brush up on your disco and get ready to rock chest compressions to “Stayin’ Alive” while learning how to save a life.

The Red Cross not only offers courses on learning life saving skills; it also offers courses on how to teach others these vital skills. Last week, I stopped by a “Lay Responder First Aid and CPR/AED Instructor” class. The people participating not only were already Red Cross certified, but they were becoming certified to teach others. I walked into the room, where a man named Jason was practicing teaching the first steps for Emergency Assistance. I sat down at a big conference table that was so littered with pamphlets, instructor’s binders, and practice mannequins you could hardly see the surface. The first thing that ran through my mind was, “Wow. These people are investing quite a bit of time to learn all this information in order to teach it to others.”

Jason’s fellow participants in the class acted as his students, and he instructed them in tandem with a video. After he was done, the instructor and group gave him feedback on ways to improve and what they thought he nailed. Jason works at St. Augustine College teaching a variety of classes. When I asked him why he was here taking an instructor’s course today, he responded with, “[The college] needed an English speaking instructor for the students, and I was more than willing to become certified.” Kudos to him and his fellow participants for taking on the job of teaching others how to become Red Cross certified.

Sign up for a class this week, and get 15% off the course fee in honor of CPR/AED Awareness Week! Head to www.chicagoredcross.org/takeaclass and enter coupon code: CPRAEDWEEK!

Have you already taken a class? Then tell us, have you ever used your training in your day-to-day life? We’d love to hear any stories you have! Have an excellent CPR/AED Awareness Week!

Tell Your Red Cross Story

There's only a few days left for a great contest that the Red Cross is doing right now in honor of Red Cross Month: the Change A Life Contest. Regardless of if you win, you still benefit from your submission!

The American Red Cross wants to know about a life changing experience you or someone you know has had as a result of their efforts By submitting your story in 75 words or less, you have the opportunity to win backstage tickets to Keith Urban's upcoming concert in Washington D.C., a 52'' flat screen TV, DVD player, Red Cross DVD collection, or Red Cross vintage T-shirts. I know I said everyone gets something for submitting an entry...well, you do! If you submit an entry, you get a coupon for 10% off at the RedCross.org store.

So, you can pretty much save 90% this week on great Red Cross opportunities. 10% off on a Red Cross item from the online store and 80% off on CPR Training during March are great deals in a recession. Use these discounts to get prepared!

The submission deadline is March 16. Start writing your story!