Have a Safe 4th of July!

Posted on June 30, 2017 by American Red Cross of Northern Ohio

Everyone is looking forward to the upcoming Fourth of July holiday weekend! We wanted to be sure to send out some steps that you can follow to stay safe, whether enjoying a nice meal with friends and family or going for a swim.

The biggest take away? Download the first aid app to help you and your family be prepared for whatever may happen!

Fourth-of-July-Grill-Tip-FINAL

GRILLING SAFETY Every year people are injured while using charcoal or gas grills. Here are several steps to safely cook up treats for the backyard barbecue:

Always supervise a barbecue grill when in use.
Never grill indoors – not in the house, camper, tent, or any enclosed area.
Make sure everyone, including the pets, stays away from the grill.
Keep the grill out in the open, away from the house, the deck, tree branches, or anything that could catch fire.
Use the long-handled tools especially made for cooking on the grill to keep the chef safe.

WATER SAFETY Swim only at a beach with a lifeguard, within the designated swimming area. Obey all instructions and orders from lifeguards. While enjoying the water, keep alert and check the local weather conditions. Other safety steps include:

Swim sober and always swim with a buddy. Make sure you have enough energy to swim back to shore.
Have young children and inexperienced swimmers wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket.
Protect your neck – don’t dive headfirst. Walk carefully into open waters.
Keep a close eye and constant attention on children and adults while at the beach. Wave action can cause someone to lose their footing, even in shallow water.
Watch out for aquatic life. Water plants and animals may be dangerous. Avoid patches of plants and leave animals alone.

DOWNLOAD SWIM, FIRST AID APPS The Red Cross Swim App promotes water safety education and helps parents and caregivers of young people learning how to swim. The app has features specifically designed for children, including a variety of kid-friendly games, videos and quizzes. It also contains water safety information for parents on a variety of aquatic environments including beaches and water parks. The First Aid App provides instant access to expert guidance on a variety of situations from insect bites and stings to choking and Hands-Only CPR. People can download the apps for free by searching for ‘American Red Cross’ in their app store or at redcross.org/apps.

HOME POOL ESSENTIALS COURSE The Red Cross and National Swimming Pool Foundation® (NSPF) have developed an online safety course for pool and hot tub owners. Home Pool Essentials helps people understand the risks of pool ownership, how to maintain a safer and cleaner pool, what safety equipment is appropriate, how to prevent pool and hot tub entrapment hazards, and how to respond to an emergency.

New Chapters Heed the Call During WWI

Posted on June 20, 2017 by American Red Cross of Northern Ohio

Looking back 100 years at the Summit, Portage & Medina Counties Chapter

By Doug Bardwell, American Red Cross Volunteer

(Editor’s Note: This is the latest in a series of centennial-related stories involving the founding of Red Cross chapters in Northeast Ohio)

April 18, 1917 – The Akron Evening Times ran a story that Kent planned to organize a Red Cross chapter in that community. A meeting had been held the night before with pastors of Kent churches all in attendance, along with officers of church organizations, lodges and clubs. A follow-up meeting was to take place that week to make sure the people of Kent did their part in the war crisis.

April 20, 1917 – Barberton began work to organize a Red Cross chapter and communicated their desire to do so to the national office in Washington.

By June 1917, Akron had already formed a Red Cross Chapter primarily for men. It was followed by an auxiliary for women on June 30, 1917. Election of officers found Mary Gladwin elected as president of the women’s auxiliary. She had just returned from serving in Serbia the year before. She was also named to the Akron executive committee along with six gentlemen.

At the June 30 meeting, 24 members of Battery B lined up on either side of the church entrance as people arrived. Upon the start of the meeting, they marched into the auditorium and joined in the singing of the Star Spangled Banner.

Wasting no words, Miss Gladwin addressed their first meeting and scolded the Akron citizenry for their lack of patriotism during the recent deployment of troops the prior week as they headed off to Columbus. Her concern centered around the fact that in the “American” residence districts of Akron, there were entire blocks with not one American flag on display.

Centennial SPM-Submarine-U14[1]

November 1, 1917 found the formerly organized chapter in Medina to be doing an excellent job with their sewing. Unfortunately, a German submarine sank a boat filled with Red Cross supplies. When a local Medina member told District Supervisor Mrs. Harrison Ewing that, “I don’t think I want to knit if that is to be the fate of my work,” Mrs. Ewing would have nothing of it, responding “Don’t think, KNIT.” That appeared to be the end of that conversation, and discussion turned to lack of yarn and the need to prepare Christmas packets.

By the beginning of December, the yarn had been received and was already knitted into sweaters for the troops.

Girl Red Cross Workers.

Schools were already starting to organize their own chapters, with Seville and Medina schools ready to go. Children all over were raising money for the Red Cross in support of starving children in Belgium and Poland. One little girl wrote the following:

“Dear Red Cross,

I have earned another dollar for the poor children. I have piled up all the pumpkins, and hauled four loads of chips, and pulled some weeds for the pigs and picked up all the scattered beans. I am eight years old today.”

With such dedication from someone so young, how could adults not pitch in?

Today, you can do your part. Volunteer or donate. Volunteers can learn more here.

Donating couldn’t be easier. Donate by text, by email, by mail or online. You can even set up a monthly automatic donation. All five links to giving are here.

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All photos creative commons licensed

Partnership with VA, Vets Groups Makes 100+ Homes Safer

Posted on June 19, 2017 by American Red Cross of Northern Ohio

The heat couldn’t keep the Red Cross and some of its partners from installing smoke alarms throughout Northeast Ohio on Saturday, June 17, 2017.

The high temperature topped out at 93 degrees, as volunteers from the Northeast Ohio VA Healthcare System and members of several veterans groups helped install nearly 300 smoke alarms in homes in four separate cities simultaneously. The Operation Save-A-Life event was scheduled to occur during the same week as Flag Day, an observance that is held with reverence among many members of the military and veterans.

“Our Northeast Ohio VA employees are dedicated to serving those who serve day in and day out. Their dedication carries over to their time away from work as we join forces with the Red Cross to make our Veterans homes and those of their neighbors safer,” said Susan M. Fuehrer, Northeast Ohio VA Healthcare System Director.

Homeowners in Akron, Canton, Mansfield and Parma received home fire safety information as well as smoke alarms, installed at no cost to them.

“It was an extremely hot day, but through your hard work and commitment to your communities, we were able to make 103 homes in Northeast Ohio safer by installing 297 smoke alarms,” wrote Jessica Tischler, Director of Service to the Armed Forces for the Red Cross of Northeast Ohio, in a message to the volunteers.

“I can’t get over it, this is such a nice thing you all are doing,” said Sara Janasik of Parma, as smoke alarms were being installed in her Monmouth Road home.

The Flag Day event preceded another big push to prevent home fire deaths this fall. Sound the Alarm, a home fire safety and smoke alarm installation event will take place across the country, including Northeast Ohio during the weekends of September 23, September 30, October 7 and October 14, 2017. If you’d like to help us make homes safer, become a Red Cross volunteer. Call 216-431-3328 for more information about Sound the Alarm and all of the volunteer opportunities the Red Cross offers.

You can also help people affected by disasters like home fires by making a donation to support Red Cross disaster relief online. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small. Visit redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS, or text the words RED CROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

A Week at Lake to River

Posted on June 16, 2017 by American Red Cross of Northern Ohio

And What a Week it Was!

As I write this it is Friday night and I am reflecting on our amazing Northeast Ohio volunteers and the Lake to River volunteers so dear to my heart. This has been a week of unrelenting high temperatures and seemingly unrelenting disasters.

Since Sunday, just five days ago, the Lake to River Chapter has, thanks to our volunteers and donors, accomplished the following:

· Canteen for an explosion in Mahoning County that involved several fire departments. Good news is that no one was hurt

· Responded to six home fires

· Held First Aid/CPR classes

· Sent Smoke Alarm teams out on Tuesday to install and were blessed on Friday to have Red Cross volunteers from Canton help install alarms in another 15 or so homes. Thank you to our Canton colleagues for your time and talent.

· Held our 7th annual Acts of Courage event that raises vital dollars to support our mission. Without the help of volunteer’s, name tags would not get done, no one would know where to sit and cars may have parked on an active runway at the 910th Airlift Base.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday board members, DAT volunteers, support volunteers and others will help us man two locations at the Thunder Over the Valley airshow this weekend. All this in 90 degree heat.

· Saddest of all, for two days we canteened for 50 fire, police, park and rescue divers who were looking for a 16-year-old boy in Mosquito Lake.

In this week our volunteers have experienced the joy of our Acts of Courage Event, got to meet one of the Thunderbird Pilots, met two WWII veterans who were honored, and the sadness of helping multiple families who lost everything in a fire and also had to watch from inside the crime scene tape as divers dragged the lake for a child.

This is the work of the Red Cross; it is what we do across Northeast Ohio and this country. Our mission is powered by these mighty volunteers whose heart, compassion and knowledge make a difference every day.

As a Chapter Executive, I am humbled by their resiliency and grateful for what they do for us whenever and wherever there is a need. I know all the Chapter Executives and staff share my passion for each and every one of you.

It has been a long, tough week but if next week is even tougher, I know we are up to the challenge. Now it’s time for a Friday night glass of wine!

A grateful Executive Director…Karen Conklin, Lake To River Chapter.

*The Lake to River Chapter serves Ashtabula, Trumbull, Mahoning, Columbiana and Jefferson Counties. See our photo album here. Photos provided by Paul Wadowick, Red Cross Communications volunteer.

VA, Veterans to Help Red Cross Make Homes Safer

Posted on June 16, 2017 by American Red Cross of Northern Ohio

Home Fire Safety and Smoke Alarm Installation Event to Take Place in Honor of Flag Day

Homes in four Northeast Ohio cities will be made safer on Saturday, June 17, 2017. That’s when the Red Cross, employees from the Northeast Ohio VA Healthcare System, and various veterans groups will fan out in neighborhoods in Akron, Canton, Mansfield and Parma to provide residents with home fire safety information and to install smoke alarms in homes where they are needed.

“This partnership with the VA and various veterans’ groups is an effort to provide continuing service to our communities,” said Jessica Tischler, Red Cross Regional Director of Service to the Armed Forces. “We intentionally planned it in honor of Flag Day, to focus on our military and veteran connected communities.”

Brinton Lincoln, a military veteran and member of the Red Cross Greater Cleveland Chapter Board of Directors, said, “The American Red Cross does so very much to support active military members, veterans and their families. It is a true privilege for those of who have served within the armed forces, to give back to the Red Cross by sponsoring and partaking in this event.”

Homes to benefit by this home fire safety and smoke alarm installation event are located in areas near 4 Northeast Ohio VA facilities:

Akron: 55 W. Waterloo, Akron, OH 44319-1116
Canton: 733 Market Avenue South, Canton, OH 44702-1018
Mansfield: 1025 South Trimble Rd., Mansfield, OH 44906
Parma: 8787 Brookpark Road, Parma, OH 44129

The Red Cross and its partners have saved more than 250 lives as part of the nationwide Home Fire Campaign to reduce the number of home fire deaths and injuries. The long-term goal of the initiative is to reduce the number of injuries and deaths due to home fires by 25% over a five year period.

More than 15,000 smoke alarms have been installed in Northeast Ohio homes by the Red Cross and its partners since July 1, 2016. Local residents can get more information about smoke alarm installations through the by visiting http://www.redcross.org/neoosal.

2017 Red Cross Cup Recap

Posted on June 13, 2017 by American Red Cross of Northern Ohio

And the winners are…

…the people who need and receive services from the Red Cross of Northeast Ohio every day. They will benefit by the generosity of more than 100 golfers who took part in the annual Red Cross Cup at the famed Canterbury Golf Club on June 12.

The golfers endured 90 degree heat, and in fact, some seemed to thrive under the blistering sun.

There was a long-drive contest, with GolfTec sponsoring the Doppler Radar that measured the distance of each drive. Alex Chappel won the women’s competition, hitting a drive 181 feet. In the men’s bracket, Steve Barnes took first place with a drive of 299 feet.

There were two brackets of competitive play. The winners of the Scramble Bracket were Jay Davisson, Sean Hennessy, Ed Thompson and Bill DeSantis, who shot a 61 playing the best ball on each hole.

And the winner of the 2017 Red Cross Cup, topping the Competitive Bracket with a score of 78 was Robert Phillips.

But as mentioned at the top of this article, the real winners are the people of Northeast Ohio, who are displaced by disasters like home fires and flood waters. The money raised by events like the Red Cross Cup help provide services such as initial financial assistance, to help keep families together as they seek shelter after being driven from their homes.

Thanks to our generous sponsors, including Presenting Sponsor Home Savings, Caddie Sponsor Donley’s, and Breakfast Sponsor Return to Golf, a program of the Northern Ohio Golf Association Charities and Foundation.

And we thank the generous donors of silent auction items, including a Florida Shark Diving Adventure, donated by Bucket List Adventure Company Ohio.

Looking forward to the 2018 Red Cross Cup!

Click on our Flickr page for an album of photos from the 2017 Red Cross Cup.

We Love When Our Corporate Partners Lend a Hand!

Posted on June 8, 2017 by American Red Cross of Northern Ohio

Last Thursday began Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company’s week of volunteering at organizations across the Akron area, and involving more than 1,100 of its local employees.

“It is vital to our mission to provide volunteer opportunities to our local corporations,” said Rachel D’Attoma, Executive Director for the Summit, Portage, and Medina Counties Chapter. “Not only does it help us get the work done, but it allows individuals, like those from Goodyear, to see with their own eyes the power and need for our services in the lives of those who we serve.”

Our first team of 16 employees from Goodyear headed out into the community to install 111 smoke alarms, and provided education to 34 homes as part of Operation Save-A-Life.

Several volunteers have stated that it is an experience that they would like to repeat in the future.

On Tuesday, 17 team members helped to make our Akron office a little more beautiful by cleaning out and planting new flowers in the beds facing West Market St. Volunteers also helped clean and organize the garage area.

See more photos on the chapter’s Facebook page, or sign up to be a volunteer the rest of the 358 days of the year!

Celebrating Chapter Centennial at BASH

Posted on June 2, 2017 by American Red Cross of Northern Ohio

BASH 2017 not only brought together Red Cross supporters, family and friends, it also marked the 100th anniversary of the founding of Red Cross chapters in Stark County, Dover and New Philadelphia.

About 285 people enjoyed dinner at the MAPS Air Museum in North Canton. Several placed bids on some coveted auction items, including an adorable puppy.

Jennifer McNemar offered the winning bid for Kimber

As usual, many guests played along with the M*A*S*H theme, dressing in Hawaiian shirts, medical attire and military uniforms. Thanks to their generosity, about $95,000 was raised to help support Red Cross disaster relief work in what is now the Stark and Muskingum Lakes Chapter.

“We had a great evening,” said Kim Kroh, Chapter Executive Director. “I am so appreciative of the way our community supports the Red Cross. Their support helps us provide vital services to people when they experience a home fire or some other disaster.”

Additionally, Heather Zuniga received a special award for performing CPR on Don Joliat after he was pulled from the Meyers Lake YMCA pool. Her efforts saved his life.

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You can help support the work of the Red Cross by visiting redcross.org/donate and selecting YOUR LOCAL RED CROSS from the drop down menu under support.

Wife Performs CPR, Saves Husband’s Life

Posted on June 1, 2017 by American Red Cross of Northern Ohio

“You can’t leave me here. I’m too young to be a widow. You can’t go,” Jan Durkalski pleaded. Her husband John had just collapsed during a Sunday morning run and was struggling to breath.

Then, his breathing stopped. So did his heart.

John and Jan Durkalski

Jan and John were on a run together in the Cleveland Metroparks when John suffered sudden cardiac arrest and collapsed. Jan had just renewed her cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certification the day before, and the instructions were fresh in her mind when she began CPR on John.

Jan and John Durkalski point to the spot where John collapsed during a run on January 22, 2017

“I never had to do live CPR before. I just did it in class,” Jan explained. “I walked away thinking ‘I’ll never have to do this.’ ”

Hear Jan and John tell the story in their own words by watching the video on our YouTube Channel.

It’s National CPR/AED Awareness Week and we are urging everyone to get trained on how to perform CPR and how to use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) so they can help during an emergency situation.

Many people who suffer sudden cardiac arrest die before getting to a hospital so every second counts. For every minute without defibrillation, a sudden cardiac arrest victim’s chance of surviving drops. It is critical for as many people as possible to be trained to perform CPR and know how to use an AED until advanced help arrives.

Interested in getting trained? Find information on Red Cross classes here. Last year, nearly 50,000 people in Northeast Ohio enrolled in Red Cross first aid/CPR/AED classes.

“Sudden cardiac arrest claims the lives of thousands of people in this country every year,” said Mike Parks, Regional CEO. “National CPR/AED Awareness Week is the perfect time for people to get trained and help increase a sudden cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival.”

John Durkalski not only survived, he is thriving. He ran the 10K race at the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon in May, and plans to continue running. “40 years and one heart attack. Why quit now?”

You can download the free Red Cross First Aid App which puts instant access to information on handling the most common first aid emergencies, including sudden cardiac arrest, at your fingertips. Download by searching for ‘American Red Cross’ in your app store or at redcross.org/apps.

From Volunteer Manager to Volunteer

Posted on May 31, 2017 by American Red Cross of Northern Ohio

Buckhold Pat

By Pat Buckhold, Regional Volunteer Officer

You say “good-bye” and I say “hello”. There’s a song for everything, I’ve always said.

After more years of paid employment than I care to admit, I came to realize over the past few months that it is time to transition to the next phase of my life. I have been preparing for this time- retirement- for many years. So many things to do, such little time. And now it’s here.

I have never been at a loss for interests and things to do in my spare time, especially now that my children are grown. In retirement, I saw myself as volunteering more than I do now, but what and where? How could I really make a difference in this world and become, pardon the philosophical bent, the best version of myself?

Enter, the American Red Cross. Over the course of the past three years as a paid staff member in Volunteer Services, the Red Cross quickly changed from an organization that I really did not know much about to one that I hold in the highest regard. It has truly been an honor for me to be part of the Red Cross and to spread the good word to prospective volunteers about the life-saving services provided. Being a volunteer with the Red Cross is more than just “something to do”. As a volunteer with the Red Cross, an individual can engage in altruistic and compassionate work in many areas- Disaster or Blood Services, Health and Safety, Services to the Armed Forces or at a Chapter. And the beauty of it all is that we are a volunteer-driven organization! How good does that get?

So if you are wondering, well, what is she going to do now, don’t think about it another second. Besides settling into this new life, I have also decided to transition into a volunteer position or two with the Red Cross. Well, where is she going to be, you ask? That, my friends, you will find out about in future blogs.

So stay tuned. The best is yet to come . . .

Click here to see photos from Pat’s send-off with members of the NEO Red Cross staff.