Join us on March 1 at the Summit, Portage, and Medina Counties Chapter as we celebrate heroes at the 23rd annual Acts of Courage event!

One hero who will be honored is Brian J. Moore, who has built a lifetime of heroic actions through his contributions to many facets of the Greater Akron community. Brian will receive the 2018 H. Peter Burg Community Leadership Award which the Red Cross proudly presents each year to one or more individuals who best exemplify leadership in the community, compassion for its people and dedication to the humanitarian mission of the Red Cross. He was selected by a committee of past award recipients.

Brian has an enthusiastic spirit. He is a steadfast mentor, and committed friend, to everyone who knows him.

Born in Dunkirk, New York and after graduating magna cum laude from the State University of New York, Brian moved to the Akron area in 1981 to attend The University of Akron School of Law.  He received his Juris Doctor cum laude in 1984. He is a shareholder with the 160 attorney law firm of Roetzel & Andress.  He practices real estate and finance law and serves as Partner-in-Charge of the firm’s Akron Office.  He has been listed in the “Best Lawyers in America” directory for Real Estate and Banking for over 12 consecutive years and has been recognized as a “Top 100-Ohio Super Lawyer.”  Brian has served as Chairman of the Real Property Committee for the Akron Bar Association.  He is also a member of the Real Estate Council of the Ohio State Bar Association.

Brian served as the 2001 volunteer tournament chair for the NEC Invitational – World Golf Championships (now known as the Bridgestone Invitational) and is a Past-President of the Executive Committee of Northern Ohio Golf Charities.  He currently is Vice Chair of the Northern Ohio Golf Charities Foundation Board.  He serves on a number of other community boards including, Downtown Akron Partnership (Former Board Chair and Current Executive Committee Member), Blue Coats (Current Board Chair), Summit Choral Society (Vice Chair), and Music for the Western Reserve. He is also a past chairman of Portage Country Club. His other past board service includes United Way (Past Campaign Chair), Akron Bar Association, Red Cross of Summit, Portage, and Medina Counties (Past Chairman of the Board), Greenleaf Family Center (Past Chairman of the Board), Leadership Akron Alumni Association (Past President), the Akron Civic Theater and the Akron Jaycees (Past President).  He is president of Leadership Akron Class 10.  In 2015, Brian was honored with the 2015 David Lieberth Community Vision Award by Leadership Akron.  He is a cantor and choir member at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.  He lives in Copley with his wife, Diana, and their children, Ben and Leah.

A limited number of tickets remain. To purchase tickets visit www.redcross.org/acts18.

It’s time for a little quiz.

How many of you burn fuels such as:

⎕ Gasoline?

⎕ Wood?

⎕ Propane?

Did you check any one of the boxes? All of the boxes? If the answer is “yes”, you have the potential of being poisoned by a small amount of Carbon Monoxide, or CO. CO is an odorless, colorless gas. It can kill you.

CO is found in fumes produced any time you burn fuel in cars or trucks, small engines, stoves, lanterns, grills, fireplaces, gas ranges, or furnaces. CO can build up indoors and poison people and animals who breathe it.

According to the CDC, while everyone is at risk for CO poisoning, infants, the elderly, and people with chronic heart disease, anemia, or breathing problems are more likely to get sick from CO. Each year, more than 400 Americans die from unintentional CO poisoning not linked to fires, more than 20,000 visit the emergency room, and more than 4,000 are hospitalized.

How can you keep your family and friends safe?

• Know the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning: headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, sleepiness, and confusion. If you suspect carbon monoxide poisoning, move quickly to a fresh air location, and then call 9-1-1.
• Install carbon monoxide alarms in central locations on every level of your home and outside sleeping areas (avoid corners where air does not circulate). Test the alarm every month.
• Treat the alarm signal as a real emergency each time. If the alarm sounds and you are not experiencing any symptoms described above, press the reset button. If the alarm continues to sound, call the fire department.
• Do not use gas appliances such as ranges, ovens or clothes dryers to heat your home.
• Never use a generator, grill or camp stove inside a home, garage or basement.
• Have heating systems (including chimneys and vents) inspected and serviced annually, checking for blockages, corrosion, and partial and complete disconnections.
• Never run your car or truck inside a garage that is attached to a house even with the garage door open. Always open the door to a detached garage to let in fresh air when you run a car or truck inside.

Learn more about how you and your family can stay safe this winter. Visit www.redcross.org/prepare for helpful tips, tricks and information.

There are a vast number ways that the Red Cross partners with organizations, both regionally and nationally.

Take for instance, the relationship between the Red Cross and Asurint, a developer and designer of an integrated system of background screening products, which is headquartered in Cleveland.

Asurint runs the background checks for each and every registered Red Cross volunteer.

“Because so much of our work is done with the public, including children, it is vitally important that we know who our volunteers are,” said Gail Wernick, Regional Volunteer Services Officer for the Northeast Ohio Region. “We are sending volunteers to work with people during, what has to be, the worst period of their lives, and, sometimes, in the most intimate of settings, such as a shelter. We have to be sure that the volunteers don’t have something on their record that would exclude them from such work.”

Recently, Asurint gave back in a different way –  with a $10,000 donation for those affected by disasters.

Thank you, for being such a valued partner!

Daylight Saving Time ends Sunday, November 5 and the Red Cross reminds everyone to ‘turn’ their clocks back an hour and ‘test’ the batteries in their smoke alarms. The Red Cross recommends that all residents in Northeast Ohio have working smoke alarms on every level of their home, including inside and outside bedrooms.

“Working smoke alarms cut the risk of dying in a home fire in half,” said Tim O’Toole, Regional Disaster Officer. “Turn and test is a reminder to set your clocks back and take a few minutes to push the test button to make sure all alarms are working.”

 It’s also an opportunity to make sure all households are prepared for home fires and other emergencies:

• Create and practice a fire escape plan. Make sure everyone in the family knows how to get out of every room and how to get out of the home in less than two minutes. Select a location outside for everyone to meet.
• Keep disaster supplies in an easy-to-carry bag to use at home or carry in case ordered to evacuate. A variety of emergency preparedness kits and supplies are available at redcrossstore.org
• Download the Red Cross Emergency App which includes content on how to prevent home fires and what to do if one occurs. The Monster Guard: Prepare for Emergencies App is a game designed for kids. Both apps are available to download for free in app stores or at redcross.org/apps.

HOME FIRE CAMPAIGN The Red Cross responds to about 64,000 disasters across the country every year and most of these are home fires. Tragically, some people lose their lives in these fires and countless others are injured. The Red Cross has launched the Home Fire Campaign to reduce the number of deaths and injuries due to home fires by 25 percent over the next five years.

Since October of 2014, the Red Cross and partners have saved more than 110 lives as part of the Home Fire Campaign. The Red Cross is committing to install 2.5 million free smoke alarms in neighborhoods at high risk for fires, and to educate those residents about fire prevention and preparedness during the multi-year campaign.

Since the Home Fire campaign began, more than 530,000 smoke alarms have been installed in all 50 states and four territories, and it has reached more than 597,000 children through campaign youth preparedness education programs, such as The Pillowcase Project.