Staten Island Middle School Students Learn to Be Red Cross Ready

The American Red Cross trained approximately 700 7th and 8th graders ages 12 to 14 to be Red Cross Ready May 8 at IS 75 in Staten Island.

The four, 40-minute-long, interactive sessions were sponsored by Staten Island Assembly Member Joseph Borelli. “With hurricane season making its approach, and with Superstorm Sandy still fresh in our minds, it is imperative to educate our youth about the importance of being prepared in the face of disaster,” Borelli said. “An individual who is well educated and well prepared will be better able to protect themselves, and their loved ones as well.”

The presenter had each group of children act out various hazards and what they would do in response. The audience guessed which hazard was being acted out, i.e., a tornado, a hurricane, a flood, a fire, extreme cold, etc. Each participant took home Red Cross preparedness pamphlets to share with their families.

Red Cross Helps Staten Island Family after Two-Alarm Fire

After a frantic call from her daughter, Sally DeVolt rushed home from work on a Friday afternoon to find that her apartment of 15 years had been destroyed in a fire.

Sally, a manager at a Staten Island diner, began to cry as she described what she saw.

“When I got home, it was not even home anymore,” she said. “There were so many firemen, so many fire trucks.”

She was thankful that her family — her son, her daughter-in-law, her daughter and her four grandchildren — all got out of the building safely. Because they fled with little more than the clothes on their backs, Red Cross disaster responders at the scene provided them with shoes, socks, tee-shirts, sweat suits and water.

“I did not know what the Red Cross did,” Sally said. “I’m so grateful.”

A few days later, Sally, who, with her family, was staying with neighbors, came to Greater NY Red Cross headquarters in Manhattan. A caseworker provided her with a debit card with funds for emergency food and clothing and information about next steps she could take for city housing, should the family require it.

“It’s a wonderful experience,” she said. “Because I had no idea all this help was out there. “I’m thankful to the Red Cross.”

“I couldn’t have made it without the Red Cross.”

Randall Cain and his maternal grandmother, Christmas 1969. Cain, just 21, was enroute to being assigned to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

It could be said that Randall Cain, a former Marine and Coast Guard member who lives on Staten Island, is grateful to the American Red Cross six times over—as many times as he has been helped by the Red Cross during the past four decades.

Forty-four years ago, in May 1968, Cain was a young Marine serving at Camp Pendleton in San Diego when his mother underwent brain surgery in Washington, D.C. The Red Cross, through its Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) program, contacted the Marine Corps to confirm the surgery, then loaned Cain emergency funds to fly to the East Coast and back.

Although his mother had not been expected to survive more than 24 hours, she lingered in a coma for two weeks, and Cain was able to be with her and his family during that time.

“I was just 19 and so grateful,” he said.

Cain left the Marines in 1972. Two years later, just before joining the Coast Guard, he was living in Brandenburg, Kentucky when a tornado struck, “killing 40 some people,” Cain recalls.

Although Cain survived, his apartment was destroyed. “The Red Cross provided me with blankets, silverware, cooking utensils and food that was lost,” he said. “They took care of everybody.”

Fast forward to 1984. Cain was stationed with the Coast Guard in Puerto Rico when the Red Cross again contacted his command, this time with the sad news that his maternal grandmother, who was in her 90s, had passed away. Within six months, they reached out to Cain’s command again; his paternal grandmother, also in her 90s, had died. Thanks to these notifications, Cain was able to attend both funerals, in Texas and Kentucky, respectively.

Thirteen years later, in October 1997, Cain’s dad, Carson, suffered a heart attack. Once again, the Red Cross verified this situation to the Coast Guard, and Cain was able travel from Puerto Rico to Virginia to be at his Dad’s side for a week. Two months later, the Coast Guard released Cain to fly home for his dad’s funeral after another Red Cross notification.

Cain mentioned that the Red Cross had also played a role in Carson Cain’s military career, after his unit, the 60th Coastal Artillery, Battery E, surrendered to the Japanese at the Battle of Corregidor in the Philippines May 5, 1942.

“I read a few books by survivors of the imprisonment,” said Cain. “The authors, as I recall, mentioned receiving Red Cross packages. So I believe when my dad was transferred to a POW camp in Japan, he may have occasionally gotten Red Cross packages.”

Randall Cain retired from the Coast Guard as a Chief Warrant Officer in 2000, after 26 years of service. For the past 12 years he has worked as a clerk for the NYPD at Manhattan’s First Precinct, located near the Holland Tunnel.

Most recently, this spring, Cain was scheduled for a surgery of his own—to have a pacemaker installed. His son Christian, 23 and a Marine, was stationed at Camp LeJeune in North Carolina. Cain contacted the Red Cross by phone, asking to have an SAF representative verify the surgery to Chris’s command. Chris returned home in time to see his father through a successful surgery.

“Now you just call a 1-800 number and you’re connected,” said Cain, noting how easy it has become to receive help from the Service to the Armed Forces program.

“I couldn’t have made it without the Red Cross,” he concluded.

Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) provides humanitarian support to service members, veterans and their families around the clock and around the globe, all under a trusted symbol. Through this program, the American Red Cross facilitates emergency messages about urgent news from home—a serious illness, the birth of a child or the death of a loved one—to service men and women anywhere in the world, including ships at sea, embassies and isolated military units.

Our local SAF program supports our military community in variety of ways, including support to local VA Hospitals, Keller Army Community Hospital at West Point and attending events such as deployment briefings, welcome home ceremonies and other supportive community events such as Fleet Week and the Veterans’ Day Parade.

Remembering Charlie DeStefano

Charlie DeStefano, a Red Cross volunteer for 18 years, truly embodied the humanitarian spirit of our organization, giving of himself to help New Yorkers when they needed it the most.

As a member of the Staten Island Red Cross Disaster Action Team, Charlie responded to hundreds of local emergencies—fires, floods and building collapses—helping countless residents recover. Whether assisting with housing, delivering supplies or simply offering a shoulder to lean on, Charlie did so with the utmost compassion and professionalism.

Charlie also came forward during some of the most tragic times our city has known. Following the attacks of 9/11, Charlie worked tirelessly to support families and first responders. More recently, in the hours, weeks and months following Superstorm Sandy, Charlie was out in the community driving Red Cross vehicles he loved so much, delivering supplies and providing comfort.

He passed his love of volunteering onto his wife Nancy. For nearly 12 years the two formed a dedicated Red Cross volunteer team.

Charlie has been a role model for us all and an inspiration for future generations of Red Crossers. Our thoughts are with his family.

“I can’t say enough good things about the Red Cross…”

Photo: Stephen Johnson

When Lillian R. from Staten Island and her eight-year-old son returned home from an appointment one summer day, they saw two Red Cross vans and about 15 fire trucks in front of her building, where a fire was still smoldering. Lillian said, “When I saw the fire, I felt overwhelmed; I’d only been living there since November. I’m a single parent, and it was frightening.” Two of Lillian’s three sons, her 8 and 17-year-olds, still live at home; her 18-year-old lives on his own.

As scared as she was, Lillian was relieved to see Red Cross relief workers at the scene because she knew they would provide help right away. This was not Lillian’s first fire. “When my oldest boys were 6 and 7, I was living in Manhattan and had a fire,” she said. “The Red Cross helped me for a few days, put me in a hotel, assisted me with carfare and food. It’s a comfort when you see them.”

Lillian’s building in Staten Island was seriously damaged and it’s unclear if her apartment will be repaired before her lease is up later in the year. Fortunately, she and her two sons are staying with a friend for now, and Lillian is confident that the Red Cross will help her going forward. Her Red Cross caseworker has referred her to a NYC agency that will help her secure long-term housing for herself and her family.

“I can’t say enough good things about the Red Cross and the work they do,” Lillian said. “They are a blessing for families coming out of fires with nowhere to go. They are so kind and caring and they provide you with as much assistance as possible. They really go the extra mile for you.”

Thank you to all our volunteers!

In honor of National Volunteer Week (April 10-16, 2011), I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for working tirelessly to fulfill the American Red Cross mission. This year’s theme, Celebrating People in Action, aptly describes the Metro New York Region’s volunteers. Red Cross volunteers are doers. Red Cross volunteers are people in action.

Our region has more than 11,000 volunteers from all walks of life. They come together with one common purpose—to provide relief to victims of disasters and help people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. Considering that our region is the Nation’s largest—serving more than 13 million people—that is a tremendous task

Red Cross volunteers like you are always ready to step in and help people down the street, across the nation and around the world. Last year, you helped us bring lifesaving safety courses such as first aid, CPR, babysitting and care giving to over 300,000 people. You helped us serve veterans, members of the military, and their families. You supported our critical mission-related work through general office support.

And of course, you helped us provide food, shelter, comfort and hope to over 15,000 area residents affected by over 2,500 local disasters—from house fires to floods, and even tornados—you were there.

So, on behalf of everyone throughout our region, I send this heartfelt “Thank You!”
Warm regards,

Vikki Pryor
CEO, American Red Cross Metro NY Region

You help families to stay together.

L to R: Paula McCullough, granddaughter Lauren, and daughter Contina

Paula McCullough never imagined that she would need the services of the Red Cross, until she and her family—three daughters and five grandchildren—found themselves outside their Staten Island apartment at 4:30 a.m. on a Thursday morning, watching their building burn. Their third floor apartment was deemed uninhabitable due to the damage caused by the fire, which started on their terrace, possibly from an electrical short. That’s when the Greater NY Red Cross stepped in to help.

“It never dawned on us that we would need the Red Cross until the FDNY told us that they had called them,” Paula said. Since they were unable to grab necessities from their apartment in time, the Red Cross provided the McCullough family with emergency food and clothing assistance at the scene of the fire.

“The Red Cross took the burden off of our shoulders,” said Paula. She added that when Red Cross relief workers said they would provide the family with housing assistance, she realized the McCulloughs would have to move and start over. Paula said she was grateful that the entire family was able to remain together in Red Cross arranged housing. “When I get back on my feet,” she said, “I am going to donate because I know that you help families to stay together.”

Paula McCullough, Staten Island