American Red Cross – Northwest WI Chapter honors local heroes at March event

(EAU CLAIRE, Wisc., Feb. 26, 2020) – Our community is filled with every day heroes. This March, the Northwest Wisconsin Chapter of the American Red Cross will once again honor a select group of the heroes among us.

The annual Heroes Breakfast will take place from 7:30-9 a.m., Wednesday, March 11 at the Florian Gardens in Eau Claire.

Military hero Peter Hestekin, center, poses with Kyle Kriegl, Northwest Wisconsin Chapter Executive, American Red Cross, after a recent interview with Katie Phernetton, anchor at WQOW, an event sponsor.

The annual event celebrates local people who were involved in selfless acts of courage and kindness during the past year. The award breakfast also serves as a fundraising event for programs and services provided by the Northwest Wisconsin Chapter of the American Red Cross. (Click here to reserve your seat.)

Chosen across a handful of categories, honorees at the Heroes Breakfast represent those among us who reflect what is best in our communities. The 2020 Heroes are:

Josh Stendahl (Trempealeau County) – award: Adult Good Samaritan

Max Marsolek (Trempealeau County) – award: Youth Good Samaritan

Osseo Fire Department (Trempealeau County) – award: Community Heroes

Abby Droessler (Sawyer County) – award: From the Heart Hero

Barron County First Responders (Barron County) – award: Healthcare Heroes

Peter Hestekin (Eau Claire County) – award: Military Hero

Sharon Ammerman (St. Croix County) – award: Hero of a Lifetime

Sacred Heart Hospital is the premier sponsor of this very special event. Additional sponsors include Marshfield Clinic, WQOW TV-18, Bauer Built Inc., Royal Credit Union, Mayo Clinic Health Systems Eau Claire, Xcel Energy, Global Finishing Solutions, Westconsin Credit Union, Charter Bank, Group Health Cooperative of Eau Claire, M3 Insurance, Black River Memorial Hospital, BMO Harris and TTM Technologies.

Click here to purchase tickets or call (715) 271-8395. Reservations are $46 and all proceeds go toward the Northwest Wisconsin Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Hours After Smoke Alarm Installation, Oshkosh Couple Avoids the Worst

By Justin Kern, American Red Cross

Ross Golly’s hands spelled out words like “smoke,” “scared” and “alarm” in retelling the story of a recent cooking fire at his home. Golly and his wife, Betty, who are both deaf, escaped danger from that grease fire quickly thanks in part to alarms installed that very afternoon by the American Red Cross.

Betty and Ross Golly, with their dogs Brownie and Peanut, at their Oshkosh home in December 2019. Smoke alarms from the Red Cross helped them avoid harm and destruction the same day they were installed.

As Ross signed the word “comfort” to share his feeling on the ultimate impact of these alarms, his fingers displayed faint, white scars from another fire six years ago that revealed how bad it could have been.

Gratitude and collaboration
The Sunday after Thanksgiving, a volunteer duo from the Red Cross were out in northeastern Wisconsin following up on appointments to install smoke alarms and work with families on home fire escape plans. The appointments are part of the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, which has brought more than 2 million smoke alarms into homes across the U.S. since 2014. Closer to home, from July 2018 to June 2019, for all of Wisconsin, Red Cross volunteers and partners installed 5,709 alarms at nearly 2,500 homes.

More than alarms, the program has directly led to nearly 700 lives saved nationwide, including a family in Janesville. It’s that chance to help keep families prepared and safe from that most-common disaster of home fires that engaged Red Cross volunteers like Toby Vanden Heuvel and Kurt Hein.

Vanden Heuvel has been a volunteer with the disaster action team since 2007. In that role, he both responds to help families who have suffered a home fire and installs alarms to prevent major fires. Soon after the Green Bay Packers game on Sunday, Dec. 1, Vanden Heuvel and Hein visited the Gollys for their installation appointment, which Ross had made online. The four worked collaboratively to overcome initial communications challenges, and Vanden Heuvel said the installation stood out because of the positivity and gratitude.

Toby Vanden Heuvel volunteers with the disaster team, which includes smoke alarm installations and, as seen here, distribution of flood clean up supplies in Fond du Lac in 2019.

“They were super gracious. And interested, reading through all of the instructions” for the alarms and home fire escape plans, Vanden Heuvel said. “Everyone was helping everyone, in some form or fashion.”

Later that night, Hein received a TTY call from the Gollys. The alarms Hein and Vanden Heuvel installed that day went off just hours later, alerting the Gollys to a kitchen fire and preventing a bigger disaster.

Alarms in use, just hours later
In mid-December, the Gollys shared their story on the fire from their home to the Red Cross, including disaster volunteer Sue Bardonner, fluent in American Sign Language that she learned when her son became deaf due to illness more than 20 years ago.

Hours after the installation of two bed-shakers and other, connected 10-year lithium battery alarms in the Golly home, they all went off. Betty had started to fry chicken in their kitchen. She said she misjudged the heat level and the grease burned up quickly, sparking smoke and small flames. That smoke triggered the shaker alarm under the bedroom bed where Ross was resting, as well as the connected alert lights the couple has rigged throughout the home.

The charred pan that set off the smoke alarms at the Golly home.

While Betty dashed out the front door to escape the smoke, Ross took a quick check of the fire, then grabbed a fire extinguisher from their garage. He put out the fire without greater incident. But not without a rollercoaster of emotions.

“I felt scared” to have the alarms go off, Ross Golly signed. Still, he said the Red Cross bed-shakers and other alarms make him feel “more comfortable. It helps a lot.”

Ross and Betty Golly are now counted among those who prevented greater catastrophe from a home fire because of the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign. It’s a catastrophe they know well.

‘Something is wrong, I have to go’
For 23 years, the Gollys have lived in a ranch-style home in Oshkosh. The last few years, they’ve shared the home with their two loving dogs, Brownie and Peanut, who respond to sign language commands – especially when it involves treats. Like any homeowners, Ross and Betty have dealt with risks from accidents or weather. (An emergency broadcast weather radio is always on in the home and is connected to a series of alert lights, just like the smoke alarms, doorbell and telephone. Red Cross volunteers also shared information on common regional extreme weather disasters like flooding during their December visit.)

Ross with his bandaged hands from a previous home fire.

An emergency incident six years ago at the home still puts the couple in a panic. Ross said he was working in the garage when a small fire broke out and melted a coffee pot. In putting that fire out, Ross hurt his hands, though he was able to get off an emergency text to Betty. She rushed home and said she immediately feared bigger problems for Ross with injuries to his hands, his primary method of communication.

“I got a text and I told my boss something is wrong, I have to go,” she remembered. “I came home and saw him and said, ‘Oh my gosh, go to the E.R.’”

Back to the hospital together, Betty helped Ross to communicate at the E.R. In time, his hands healed, though the scars remain. And they were a reminder when he heard about free smoke alarms and fire escape plans on offer from the Red Cross. As he thought back about the fire that scalded his hands and the more recent one where they avoided big damage, Ross reiterated his appreciation to Red Cross volunteers and for the alarms: “Thank you, we’re happy to have this.”

Do you know someone who could use free smoke alarms installed in their home? Sign up today at GetASmokeAlarm.org. Interested in joining our home fire safety volunteer teams? Take the first step at redcross.org/volunteer.

 

Volunteer profile: wanderlust fuels Wood County resident’s Red Cross service

By Stephanie Burton, American Red Cross

When Diane Scheunemann retired from her 41-year career as a parts inventory specialist for a large heavy truck dealership in Marshfield, she didn’t know what she would do with her time. Pickle ball, curling and softball were a start. But she knew she needed something more.

That’s when she turned to the American Red Cross.

Diane Scheunemann waits in a convoy of Red Cross emergency response vehicles ready to bring food and other items to families in need after Hurricane Michael. (Submitted photo)

“I asked myself what I like to do,” the long-time Wood County resident said. “I like to volunteer and travel. And, the Red offers both of those opportunities.”

Scheunemann contacted her local chapter and began taking in-person and online courses. Soon, she was preparing for her first deployment working as a pre-disaster mega shelter volunteer in anticipation of Hurricane Irma in 2017. Scheunemann and other Red Cross volunteers staffed a school-based shelter that was locked down while one of the worst hurricanes to hit Miami in decades stalled over the area.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” she admitted. “I was in awe of what had to be done.”

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You can join our disaster volunteers in a number of ways. Click here for info and to sign up.

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What had to be done, Scheunemann soon learned, ranged from driving an emergency response vehicle to sorting through thousands of donations the Red Cross receives after disaster strikes.

A self-described introvert, Scheunemann quickly learned how to best use her skills to make a maximum impact. Her wanderlust led her next to provide aid during and after the 2017 Sonoma County Wildfires. This time, her efforts were focused on canteening, preparing food at mealtimes, loading trucks and cleaning.

“It’s a devastating thing to see these houses and vineyards burned to the ground,” she said. But, she takes comfort in knowing that she can provide so much help during times of such life-altering devastation.

Scheunemann, center, poses during a break from work helping families impacted by wildfires in California in 2019. (Submitted photo)

Scheunemann also traveled to serve those impacted by Hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Fla., and to the widespread Paradise Fire in Butte County, Calif.

Scheunemann credits her husband for making her deployments possible. He maintains the home and takes care of their dog while she’s away for each two-week deployment.

Her volunteer experience isn’t limited to deployments. In fact, her Red Cross colleagues describe Scheunemann as a jack-of-all trades. She has also responded to a number of local fires that have displaced families.

When asked about what’s touched her most about her time as a Red Cross volunteer, Scheunemann pointed to the generosity she saw in others, not herself. She recalled a local fire she responded to where, among those affected, were three young children, including a colicky baby. A fire chief also at the scene joined their work to help the family find shelter plus medicine for the baby.

You can put your compassion and talents to use as a volunteer with our disaster action teams. We are always looking for people to join our teams, starting with local homes fires and floods, and, with training and interest, deployed out to national catastrophes. Click here to start your volunteer journey.