Red Cross Recognizes Everyday Heroes During Red Cross Month

March is Red Cross Month and the American Red Cross would like to recognize the nation’s Everyday Heroes who reach out to help their neighbors when they are in need.

“Our local heroes are our volunteers, our blood donors, people who take our classes or those who make a financial contribution to help us, help others, throughout our communities” said Jody Weyers, Volunteer Director.  “During Red Cross Month, we thank them and encourage everyone to discover their inner hero!” 

For more than 70 years, all of our country’s presidents, including President Barack Obama, have designated March as Red Cross Month to recognize how the American Red Cross helps people across the country and around the world.

Here in Wisconsin, we respond to more than a 1,000 disasters (mostly residential fires) and we must be ready to respond 24/7/365. In addition to helping someone down the street, we send trained responders to hurricane, tornado and wildfire responses across the country. We teach kids to adults lifesaving skills, we roll-up our sleeves to donate blood, we even provide 24-hour support to members of the military, veterans and their families – in war zones, military hospitals and on military installations around the world.

‘Not all heroes wear capes and volunteering is a great way to be someone’s hero,” gleamed Weyers. “It’s easy, become a Red Cross volunteer, work on a preparedness plan for their household, give blood, or take a Red Cross class.”

A number of activities planned for Red Cross Month, includes:

March 4^th – Blood Drive, Bellin Hospital, 744 S. Webster Avenue, Green Bay, 6:30a.m.- 12:15 p.m.

March 6^th – We open our newest Nurse Assistant Training location in La Crosse. This brings our statewide total to six training locations with courses happening almost monthly. State Farm, Walmart and the Waupaca Community Foundation are funding student scholarships.  www.redcross.org/WINAT.

March 6^th – Blood Drive – American Red Cross, 2032 Erie Avenue, Sheboygan 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

March 13th – Blood Drive – American Red Cross, 2032 Erie Avenue, Sheboygan 11:00a.m. – 5:00p.m.

March 14^th – Blood Drive – Bay Area Medical Center, 3100 Shore Drive, Marinette 10:00a.m. to 3:00p.m.

March 16^th – Members of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Red Cross Club, Student Veterans Association and Americorps/Vet Corps will coordinate a King Veteran Home resident’s bingo and bowling outing.

 March 20^th – Blood Drive – American Red Cross, 2032 Erie Avenue, Sheboygan, 11:00a.m. – 5:00p.m.

March 27^th – Dine Out For Disaster Relief – Bring your hunger to participating restaurants where a percentage of your sales will be donated to support disaster relief and life-saving preparedness programs locally.  www.redcross.org/dineoutwisconsin is presented by Society Insurance.

March 27^{th –} Blood Drive – University of Wisconsin-Marinette Activities Room, 750 W. Bay Shore Street, Marinette, Wisconsin 9:00a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

March 31^st – UWGB Red Cross Awareness Concert with Rob Anthony playing at the UWGB Common Grounds from 5:30p.m. – 7:30p.m. 

ALL MONTH LONG:

• Flags will fly over the Fond du Lac bridge.
• Residents in Sheboygan County can receive FREE life-saving training thanks to a United Way partnership to make our families safer!
• All Health & Safety classes can be found at http://www.redcross.org/takeaclass
• US Bank ATM’s have a “donate” option for the Red Cross.
• When filing your Wisconsin State Taxes, you can use the donation “check off” to give directly to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Every dollar stays in Wisconsin.
• Donate the gift of life – give blood! Our Green Bay Blood Donation Center at 2131 Deckner Avenue collects blood four to five days a week and includes evening and weekend hours. Walk-ins welcome or visit www.redcrossblood.org to make an appointment.
• To learn more about volunteering go to www.redcross.org/volunteer or contact Jody Weyers at 920-227-4287 or jody.weyers@redcross.org.

Not all Heroes Wear Capes

Sign up today for our Red Cross Babysitting Class #beahero

You’ll learn the skill necessary to safely and responsibly care for infants and children up to the age of 10. Plus how to make playtime fun with age appropriate games as well as to manage a babysitting business.  It takes about 7 hours to complete and makes learning fun with lots of videos and interactive games.

March classes are available at the following American Red Cross offices :

• March 8 Green Bay, 2131 Deckner Ave.
• March 22 Iron Mountain, Michigan, 427 S. Stephenson Ave.

Additional classes and locations available in April and beyond.  Sign up today at redcross.org/babysitting for an in-person Babysitting Course or learn from the warmth of your own home with Babysitting Basics an online only course.  You can also register by calling 800-RED-CROSS (800-733-2767) and press Option 3.

 

FREE! FREE! FREE!

Now that we have your attention! Let’s get trained in life-saving skills thanks to our Sheboygan County United Way partnership! All residents can receive free health & safety training. That’s right, from babysitting skills to first aid to even how to perform CPR or use an AED!  No strings attached! You just have to live in Sheboygan County, register (first registered basis) and attend the class by June 30, 2014.

Classes being hosted locally include:

• Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED
• Adult and Pediatric CPR/AED
• *Adult First Aid/CPR/AED
• Adult CPR/AED
• CPR/AED for the Professional Rescuer
• Babysitter’s Training – designed for youth ages 11-13.

Classes are available at the Red Cross building at 2032 Erie Avenue, Sheboygan. For a complete list of courses descriptions, times, requirements, please go to www.redcross.org/Take-a-class.

You can also register by calling 800-RED-CROSS (800-733-2767) and press Option 3.  You must provide the Coupon Code of UWSHEBOYGAN0614 for the course to be complimentary.

If your organization, group or club wants to train a group of people at the same time, please contact terry.roe@redcross.orgor by calling 715-590-4495.

Would you know what to do in this situation?  Click HERE to read this life-saving story!

More than 2.1 Million Cards Sent through Red Cross Holiday Mail for Heroes

Red Cross Follow-Up:

Holiday Cards Distributed to Members of the Military Across the Globe

Students from Franklin Elementary in Oshkosh read their letters and cards to the Veterans at the Wisconsin Veteran’s Home at King.

People across the country sent in more than 2.1 million cards to the 2013 American Red Cross Holiday Mail for Heroes project, a record level of holiday greetings for members of the United States military, Veterans and their families.

The cards bearing messages of thanks and gratitude were distributed by the Red Cross all over the world, on military bases and in military hospitals, Veteran’s hospitals and to military families in the U.S. and abroad. This was the seventh year for the project which allows people to send holiday well wishes to members of the Armed Forces, their families and the country’s Veterans

Cards came from people from all walks of life: church groups, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, clubs, businesses, families and thousands of school children. Ten National Football League teams supported the program by helping host card-signing events at games.

“Americans continue to show their unwavering support for the U.S. military in the more than 2 million cards sent through the 2013 Holiday Mail for Heroes program,” said Sherri Brown, senior vice president, Service to the Armed Forces for the Red Cross. “We thank everyone who took time to express their thanks and holiday wishes to help make the holidays a little brighter for those who serve our country.”

2,944 cards collected from the employees of Humana from their three locations in Green Bay.

Locally, we collected around 50,000 cards for the state of Wisconsin.

The cards went to a special post office box for screening, packaging and were shipped to Red Cross offices around the world. Volunteers took time out of their busy holiday schedules to help screen, sort and deliver the holiday greetings to the military, veterans and their families.

Holiday Mail for Heroes began in December 2007 when Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. approached the Red Cross to assist in distributing thousands of holiday cards to hospitalized servicemen and women. The program has grown to become a nationwide effort to honor and remember the nation’s military during the holiday season.

Holiday Mail for Heroes is part of the Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces program. For more than 130 years, the Red Cross has provided comfort and support to troops – including the 2 million current members, 24 million veterans and the families who support all of them.

Where to begin?

By Sara Bruesewitz, Public Support Coordinator

When you wake up the next day following a fire, you experience a flood of emotions. What do we do next? Where will we live? Who is going to help us? It’s really powerful knowing that the Red Cross will be there for you to help you take those next steps. The family in Two Rivers who lost everything to a home fire last night will meet with our trained Casework department to determine what emergency needs they have, what the Red Cross can provide to them, how to work with their insurance company and what other community resources are available to them.

Midwestern communities are always moved to do something for families when disasters strike – it’s what we do and it’s in our blood – however, it’s not always the best route to take. Right now, the family has their emergency needs met – thanks to our wonderful donors & community partners – so instead of overwhelming them with stuff, consider making a donation to Red Cross Disaster Relief so families in the future can receive the same services. The best way to help a disaster victim is through a financial donation to the Red Cross. Financial contributions allow the Red Cross to purchase exactly what is needed for the disaster relief operation – no matter if it is big or small and personal. Thank You!

International Humanitarian Law Offered Saturday, February 15!

The International Humanitarian Law course will be offered on Saturday, February 15th from 8:30am-12:00pm at the American Red Cross Oshkosh Office.  The Oshkosh office is located at 515 S. Washburn St., 2nd Floor, Oshkosh, WI 54904 in the Tower West building.

This course is intended to raise awareness among Red Cross volunteers, staff and general audiences about the Geneva Conventions, the basic rules of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), and the role of the Red Cross during armed conflict to implement IHL.  The course will use group activities, class discussion and multiple audiovisual aids to invite participants to reflect on their images and perceptions of armed conflict and explore the powerful and fundamental concepts of human dignity even in the midst of the excesses of war.

Learning Objectives for this course include –

Increase the understanding of and respect for:

• Human dignity
• International Humanitarian Law (IHL)
  • Who and what IHL protects
  • How IHL protects people
• The importance of a public understanding of IHL
• Meeting IHL and fundamental principles challenges in American Red Cross daily work

This course is recommended for ALL Red Cross personnel. In addition to internal audience, other external groups, and partners are also encouraged to attend, including, military families, veterans groups, university and academic groups, young people, medical personnel, local media, service and civic organizations, etc.

Contact: Melinda Piraino at 414-342-8680 X663 or melinda.piraino@redcross.org to register