American Red Cross Greater New York Blog

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Lisa Karpinski: Getting Help and Giving Back

Lisa Karpinski, third from left, with fellow responders.

By Alice Ding

When Superstorm Sandy hit the Rockaways, Lisa Karpinski, her husband, and their two children (who were 12- and 14-years old when Sandy hit), lost all their belongings as their house filled with more than five feet of water.

A friend directed Lisa to Beach 129th Street to receive help from the American Red Cross, which had an emergency response vehicle stationed there. “The Red Cross provided me with food and a home cleanup kit,” Lisa said.

Before receiving help from the Red Cross, Lisa knew nothing about the organization. Now, she is one of the Greater New York Region’s most enthusiastic volunteers.

“I saw two Red Crossers, one from California and one from Texas, constantly during Sandy as I kept going back for meals and became friends with them,” Lisa recalled. She said that later, when she was making career changes, one of them suggested she become a volunteer herself.

Lisa, who started volunteering in April 2013, says she wanted to give back to the Red Cross because it helped her during a difficult time. She usually works the 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. response shift. During her shift, Lisa goes to disaster scenes — mostly fires — and provides assistance to those affected.

While on the way to a disaster, Lisa and her fellow volunteers discuss possible resources and the best way to respond to each individual situation. Lately, she’s been learning how to assess disasters more efficiently, as the Greater New York Red Cross shifts to a new computer program that will help responders.

Lisa shared that the best part of her Red Cross volunteer experience is meeting and supporting disaster survivors. “I really like talking to people affected by disasters and helping them. I get a lot of satisfaction out of that.”

Lisa has made great friends with others at the Red Cross. “People here are friendly. We go out and grab a bite when we have time,” she said. Although the Red Crosser volunteers who initially helped her during Sandy have returned to their chapters in other parts of the country, Lisa remains in contact with them through social media.

“People working here really care about those they are helping,” Lisa said. It is that culture of caring she saw during Sandy that drew Lisa to volunteer for the Red Cross — and one that she now helps spread to others in need.

Friday, September 26, 2014

American Red Cross Recognizes Legacy Society Members at Luncheon

See more photos.

The American Red Cross Legacy Society in Greater New York held its annual luncheon at regional headquarters in Manhattan on Sept. 17. The luncheon recognized long-term donors who have generously included the Red Cross in their estate plans, as well as those who have funded planned gifts.

Josh Lockwood, Greater NY regional CEO; Hugh Williams, Greater New York Red Cross Gift Planning Officer; and Sonja Ronovech, MPA, Recruitment Manager, American Red Cross Blood Services, addressed attendees.

“Your gifts help ensure that the Red Cross has the financial resources necessary to continue providing lifesaving programs and services to the people of our region for years to come,” Lockwood said. “We, and those we serve, are extremely grateful.”

“Those here today are just a few of the many generous Americans supporting the humanitarian efforts of the Red Cross here in Greater New York, in the U.S. and around the world,” Williams added.

Lockwood and Williams discussed the programs and services the Red Cross provides throughout the Greater New York region of New York City, Long Island, the Lower Hudson Valley and Greenwich, Conn.

These include helping military members through the Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces program; teaching emergency preparedness, as well as CPR and first aid; and responding to disasters. Lockwood also talked about recent disaster responses including the Harlem building explosion in March and the Hamilton Heights fire in August.

Ronovech spoke about Red Cross blood services in the Greater NY Region and explained how the Red Cross is ramping up more blood collection efforts in order to meet the local demand.

“Members of the Legacy Society play a critical part in expanding the services and role the American Red Cross has across the Greater New York Region,” she said. “Sharing information on the Biomedical line of service to these key individuals was a wonderful opportunity.”

For more information on the Legacy Society, please contact Hugh.Williams@redcross.org or (866) 423-3194.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Red Cross and Girl Scouts of Greater NY Partner for Girl Scout Prep Day

Photo: Steven Thorne

The American Red Cross and the Girl Scouts of Greater New York partnered to prepare and empower young girls at a First Aid and Wellness Day hosted by the Greater NY Red Cross on Sept. 20.

“Helping the community prepare for emergencies is at the core of the Red Cross mission,” said Amanda Crabbe, Greater NY Regional Manager, Youth Services. “Going back to decades, the Red Cross has a long history of getting youth involved in its mission.”

Throughout the day approximately 200 Girl Scouts, ages 5 to 17, from across the city participated in a variety of activities, including first aid and emergency preparedness classes, a “Scrubby Bear” hand washing presentation a Basic First Aid (BAT) event for younger girls, and an opportunity to design and build their own first aid kits.

Scouts also took part in a panel entitled, “Women in Emergency Management,” in which women from various disaster response organizations, including the Red Cross, discussed what they and what motivates them to work in their respective fields.

"This day was an amazing opportunity for our girls, who work every day to make the world a better place,” said Sarah Pooley, Manager, Youth Leadership & Volunteer Support, Girl Scouts of Greater New York. “Girl Scouting emphasizes leadership development, and this event gave our girls the opportunity to learn about leading during a disaster. We're grateful to the American Red Cross for this opportunity."

“My favorite part of the Red Cross training was learning how to deal with serious emergencies and how to get out of a fire, said Meghan Bernardy, a Junior with Troop 4791. “It was also fun to make a first aid kit to carry at all times.”

See more photos of the event.

Our Red Cross Family Down the Street

by Michael de Vulpillieres, American Red Cross Greater NY Region

The Red Cross Red Crescent Movement is alive and well in New York City. The Big Apple is one of only a handful of cities in the world where all three arms of our global network have a permanent presence.

The Greater New York Red Cross, headquartered on West 49th Street in Manhattan, represents the American Red Cross locally; but a little over a mile to our east, our two sister institutions—the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)—also call Manhattan home.

The ICRC’s humanitarian mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of war and internal violence and to provide them with assistance. During situations of conflict, the ICRC is responsible for directing and coordinating the Red Cross network’s international relief activities. It also promotes the importance of international humanitarian law and draws attention to universal humanitarian principles. The IFRC, on the other hand, focuses on coordinating international assistance efforts in response to natural and human-caused disasters unrelated to conflict. It also strives to teach disaster preparedness, fight the spread of disease, discourage discrimination and violence, and promote humanitarian values. The IFRC fulfills its mission by coordinating between 189 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies throughout the world.

Enabled by their United Nations Observer Status, each organization maintains a delegation to the UN, just across town from our Hell’s Kitchen HQ. This special mandate allows them to participate in UN activities, such as meetings, committees and debates, but does not authorize them to vote on or propose resolutions; only Member States may take part in in those activities.

The ICRC was granted UN Observer Status in October 1990—the first institution which is not a government organization to be granted this status. The exception was made because of the special role conferred upon the ICRC by the international community and the mandates to protect the victims of international and internal armed conflicts given to it by the Geneva Conventions. The UN has since allowed the ICRC to voice its opinion on subjects within its expertise, such as International Humanitarian Law, and to have these ideas heard on the largest of international stages.

Four years later, in 1994, the IFRC was granted this same status. Juan Manuel Suárez del Toro, IFRC president at the time, described Observer Status as the organization’s “most important diplomatic tool.” It has allowed the Federation to strengthen its partnership with UN agencies like the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and to speak out on a range of humanitarian issues including disaster mitigation and human rights.

So as the UN General Assembly kicks off this week, remember that our colleagues from the ICRC and the IFRC are there as well, serving as the eyes and ears of our global network while advocating for the humanitarian principles that unite us.

Photo credit: Christophe Lobry-Boulanger, IFRC

Monday, September 22, 2014

Conrad Sauvé of the Canadian Red Cross Visits Greater NY

Conrad Sauvé (left) and Josh Lockwood

Greater New York Red Cross Regional CEO Josh Lockwood met with Secretary General and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Red Cross, Conrad Sauvé, on Monday, Sept. 22. Mr. Sauvé visited Greater New York headquarters to learn more about how the chapter plans for and responds to local disasters as well as large-scale disasters. Among the topics discussed was the response to flooding in Alberta last year, on-going recovery operations in Haiti and how the Red Cross is helping with the Ebola outbreak in Africa. Both also discussed an “exchange program” where teams from Greater New York and the Canadian Red Cross would visit one another periodically to share information and best practices.

In Case You Missed It — September 22, 2014

Ready Red Hook Day in Brooklyn

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW
In the last week the Red Cross provided emergency relief in the form of shelter, food, clothing, health services and/or emotional support to 143 New Yorkers impacted by 41 disasters across our region. Here are some highlights.

“A good deed for desperately needy families is a great mitzvah [act of kindness],” said community leader Isaac Sofer, in thanking the Red Cross after it helped four families displaced by a 2-alarm fire in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on Sept. 16.
The Hauppauge Industrial Association-LI (HIA-LI) honored the American Red Cross on Long Island at the HIA-LI 20th Annual Business Achievement Awards Gala, held at the Crest Hollow Country Club on Sept.16.
Also on Sept. 16, Brooklyn Disaster Program Manager Edmund A. Torraca and Disaster Action Team Captain Garfield Richards supported an Emergency Preparedness Forum at Brooklyn Borough Hall.
On Sept. 13, Red Crossers Nancy Soto Les Levinowitz supported “Ready Red Hook Day" organized by the Red Hook Coalition by distributing disaster preparedness materials.
In partnership with South Florida Red Cross, we created a video with children’s suggestions for how to prepare for a disaster. Check out their hilarious responses (see below) and subscribe to our Youtube Channel.
Last week, the National Youth Council announced that November is National Youth Involvement Month (#NYIM). Young leaders and volunteers are encouraged to visit the Red Cross National Youth Website and complete a checklist of activities for the month, as well as create their own.
On week three of National Preparedness Month, we published tips on how to prepare for, respond to and recover from floods.
Because it's National Preparedness Month, we encourage everyone to download our free Red Cross Mobile Apps for natural disasters, including Hurricanes, Earthquakes, Wildfires, Floods and Tornadoes, as well as our apps for First Aid, Pet First Aid, Swimming and Volunteering.
A Boston Marathon hero encourages everyone to download the Red Cross Blood App. Read his story.
Enterovirus D68 has affected 150 people in 18 states according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). On Sept.19, we provided some useful tips on how to prevent the spread of this virus, which can cause respiratory illness.
For #FunnyFriday, we explained how NOT to create a disaster kit on The Good, The Bad, and The Ridiculous.