Tag Archives: Mark Cline

In Northern Ohio and nationwide, Americans support each other another a year into COVID-19

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Please take part in Red Cross Giving Tuesday as #HelpCantWait

Tim Poe, American Red Cross Volunteer.

September 7, 2021. Kenner, Louisiana. American Red Cross volunteer, Charisse Brown, hands out hot meals and words of comfort to residents of Kenner, Louisiana, after over a week of power outages in the community. Photo by Scott Dalton/American Red Cross

In my various capacities as an American Red Cross volunteer the last few years, I have seen the impact of your donations, whether financial support, donating blood, or volunteering time and expertise. I have seen the moment in people’s faces when despair turns to hope following a disaster and they begin focusing on recovery, the appreciation of first responders receiving food and beverages while working at a large-scale event, and the caring during the organized bustle of blood drives. I have also been fortunate to speak with veterans and their families assisted by the Red Cross, met people who saved lives with the help of Red Cross training, and worked alongside incredibly kind and dedicated fellow volunteers and staff members. I, my family, and friends have also benefitted from the Red Cross in our personal lives, both through lifesaving blood donations and a deployed relative brought home after his mother passed. None of this would have been possible without donations.

The monetary value of items I have seen provided varies, from a cup of coffee and toiletries to food and safe shelter to the pricelessness of needed blood and assistance from well-trained people.

On Giving Tuesday, please consider donating to the Red Cross. The effectiveness of your donations is tremendous and, as this recent article states, needed now more than ever. This year alone Northern Ohio Red Cross staff and volunteers responded to nearly 1,200 disasters, aiding more than 1,800 people.

There is also a critical need for blood—the Red Cross distributed 250,000 more blood products this year—while the pandemic caused fewer blood drives and donors, a 32% decrease in Northern Ohio and a 34% drop nationally. The Red Cross’s blood supply is at its lowest in more than a decade.

Also, the COVID-19 pandemic, severe weather, and global conflict have created tremendous demand for Red Cross services and posed significant challenges. Nationally, the Red Cross launched a new major relief effort every 11 days to provide refuge, food, and care. Families displaced by disasters spent an average of nearly 30 days in a Red Cross-supported emergency shelter. In addition, 2.1 million essential items were provided to evacuees and children seeking asylum.

To provide a sense of scale for the impact of your donations, each day the Red Cross:

  • helps nearly 170 families affected by a home fire or other disaster,
  • collects about 12,500 blood donations to help people in need,
  • provides critical aid to members of the military, veterans, and their families around 1,400 times,
  • along with its partners, helps provide more than 683,000 rubella vaccinations to children,
  • and provides lifesaving training to nearly 13,000 people.

To help provide financial support, please visit this link. To schedule a blood donation, please see here. And to explore volunteer opportunities, please click here.

In Northern Ohio and nationwide, Americans support one another a year into COVID-19

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Please take part in Red Cross Giving Day as #HelpCantWait

Tim Poe, American Red Cross Volunteer.

As a Northern Ohio-based American Red Cross volunteer, I have seen how quickly disaster can strike. How a fire, tornado, lightning strike, flood, or other event impacts lives. And I have seen the effectiveness of your donations. How a comfort kit, meal, blanket, or financial assistance helps those affected begin to recover, to look toward the future. I have also seen the dedication and compassion of many Red Cross volunteers and staff members across several service areas, including Disaster Response, Blood Services, and Service to the Armed Forces. As today is Giving Day, please consider joining thousands of caring people and taking part, whether through financial support, a blood donation, or volunteering.

Red Cross services have been especially needed in the past year. In addition to the COVID-19 global pandemic, 2020 had the greatest number of billion-dollar disasters in a single year. Many from our region helped; nearly 200 Northern Ohioans deployed to 24 large-scale disasters during the year.

Locally, just since July 1, the Red Cross’s Northern Ohio region responded to 848 disasters, assisting 1,249 families (2,074 adults and 1,122 children).

Through it all, the Red Cross effectively continued its mission, with safety protocols in place.

Emotional, spiritual, and mental health support during the pandemic have been one focus area. In 2020, disaster mental health and spiritual care volunteers had more than 53,000 conversations, and free counseling is available through the Red Cross’s Virtual Family Assistance Center for grieving families during COVID-19.

I spoke with Red Cross volunteer Mark Cline, whose numerous responsibilities include Region Program Lead for Northern Ohio’s Disaster Action Team (DAT).  Mark focused on how the Red Cross has continued helping people recover from disasters using safety measures like virtual responses where possible. Mark lauded his fellow volunteers and staff, saying, “Being part of the Disaster Action Team proves to me a team working together will get the job done, even in a pandemic!”

Here are some examples of what a financial gift can provide:

  • $500: Help families affected by disasters. In Northern Ohio, the Red Cross responds to an average of more than three disasters each day, mostly home fires.
  • $200:  Deploy an emergency response vehicle (ERV) for a day. ERVs deliver food, supplies, comfort, and information to those in need.
  • $100: Cleaning supply kits for five families.
  • $95: A day’s worth of food and essential supplies for a family in urgent need after a disaster.
  • $60: Warm meals for six.
  • $35: Essential relief items for two.

To participate in Giving Day with financial support, please go to redcross.org/GivingDay. A gift of any size makes a difference.

For volunteer opportunities, please visit redcross.org/VolunteerToday.

If you are healthy and feeling well, please consider donating blood. Visit RedCrossBlood.org.

To learn lifesaving skills like CPR and First Aid, consider taking a class at redcross.org/TakeAClass. Online options include Psychological First Aid for COVID-19.

Mark Cline to be Recognized as a “Sparkling” Volunteer

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By Doug Bardwell, American Red Cross volunteer

Mark Cline

CLEVELAND – Decades of volunteer service will be honored next week when American Red Crosser Mark Cline receives the top individual award from Greater Cleveland Volunteers.

Cline will be in the spotlight when the David F. Leahy Volunteer Excellence Award is presented at Greater Cleveland Volunteers’ annual “Sparkle at the Zoo” benefit Sept. 21 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

“I volunteer with the Red Cross because it gives me the opportunity to use my 40+ years of emergency response training,” Mark says. “Helping people prepare for a disaster or helping people in need after a disaster makes me feel like I’m making a difference in their lives.”

Actually, Mark – now 61 – has been serving the people of northeast Ohio since he was old enough to join Boy Scouts. He worked his way up through the scouting program to the rank of Eagle Scout. He went on to become an Explorer Scout with the Wickliffe Fire Department, eventually becoming a part-time firefighter and EMT.

Helping those in need motivated Mark to join the Emergency Response Team at Cleveland Hopkins Airport while he was working for Continental Airlines. He also took on the role of Explorer post advisor, working with teens interested in aviation.

When back injuries ended Mark’s days on the tarmac, he went looking for other opportunities to serve. That’s when he discovered the Red Cross. Since joining the Greater Cleveland Chapter in March 2016, he’s been putting in 40 hours a week with disaster services.

Mark is a Disaster Action Team (DAT) leader, administrator-on-call and DAT induction trainer, a presenter for the Pillowcase disaster preparedness program, and volunteer partner of the chapter’s disaster program manager (DPM), Jeremy Bayer.

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“Mark is a tremendous asset to the American Red Cross of Greater Cleveland,” Jeremy says. “His personal sacrifice of time and energy has made countless numbers of people more comfortable in their time of need during disasters.  Mark is also an integral part in the administration as the DPM (Disaster Program Manager) volunteer partner of the Greater Cleveland Chapter.”

Mark was recently recognized as a Hometown Hero by Cleveland 19 News for his volunteer accomplishments

The Red Cross depends on the generosity of the American people, who donate time, financial support and life-sustaining blood to help those in need. Volunteers are always welcome and you don’t have to commit 40 hours a week like Mark.

To learn more about the many volunteer opportunities within the Red Cross – from preventing and responding to disasters to serving our armed forces to teaching first aid, babysitting or water safety skills – visit https://www.redcross.org/local/ohio/northeast/volunteer.html