2012 American Red Cross Volunteer Recognition Luncheon

Please join us for a delicious luncheon to celebrate the contributions of our wonderful Red Cross volunteers!

What: Volunteer Recognition Luncheon
When:  Thursday, April 19^th, 2012
Time:   12 noon
Where:  4800 Mt. Hope Drive, Baltimore, Maryland
Please RSVP by April 13^th, 2012 to: pamela.tice@redcross.org

- International Tracing/International Social Services News:  One of the services we recognize less often, but can be quite interesting, are our International Social Services, which help to put people in touch who have lost each other as a result of war or disaster.  Disaster Volunteer Marc Ebersberger handles a lot of the local work we do for our International cases.  Sometimes, he has to use good ol'fashioned detective work to make a reunification.  Here is a really neat story of a case he completed last week.  No one else would have had the great result Marc had, as he tenaciously tracked down his client!   (I think most of us would have given up at the part when we heard the client was living in the woods!)  Thank you for a great job, Marc!  You were Clara Barton last week!!!
Here is the story, in Marc's own words -

Last April, we received a request from the Red Cross in the Czech Republic to try to locate a Baltimore resident whose sister had lost contact with him suddenly two years before. We had several addresses and a telephone number for the individual but he no longer lived at those addresses and the phone number was no longer in service. No one knew his current whereabouts. I tried several charitable organizations, local churches and the Czech and Slovak Heritage Society but no one had heard of the individual. We also checked for any death notices but found nothing. Accordingly, I responded back that we were unable to contact the individual

In January 2012, his sister submitted a second request to try to locate her brother. The Red Cross International Social Services forwarded the request with another address that we did not have previously. Last week, I went on a house call to the new address. It turned out to be a bar which was locked, but I rang the bell. A young man answered and when I told him who I was looking for, he indicated that he knew the individual but he had not been at this address for two years, and he thought he was homeless and living in the woods nearby. I asked him the location of the woods but was not looking forward to searching them for the individual. I asked him to reconfirm the name and showed it to him. He realized he had made a mistake and said he had identified the wrong person. However, he did know who our client was but had no idea where he now lived. He did know that he had worked at a business on Haven Street but didn’t know which one. I went to Haven Street and inquired at an auto parts store. The proprietor did not know the individual. I tried two other businesses but their doors were locked. Before leaving, I checked my files and noticed that one of the previous addresses indicated that the individual had lived there as late as January 2011. I determined that the address was not too far away and visited there. I just happened to catch the owner as he was leaving and inquired if he knew the individual. He said he had rented his house six years before but didn’t know where he lived now. He did indicate that the individual worked at a “factory over there” pointing in the direction of Haven Street. I went back to Haven Street and found a small factory. I entered their office and sure enough the individual worked there and was working that day. I told him that his sister was looking for him and wanted his current address and phone number. He provided the information with permission to share it. I also gave him his sister’s address and phone number. He was very excited and said he would contact her that night. The stars were aligned that day so that I was able to talk to two people who didn’t know where the individual was but had provided two pieces of information that enabled me to find my quarry.

3/26/12 . . .  WELCOME CHRIS YOUNG!!!  We welcome Mr. Chris Young as our new Response Associate!  He is currently an EMT/Firefighter with Mt. Airy Fire Department and was a Intern with our State Mass Care/Sheltering Leads at the Department of Human Resources.  He will be achieving his degree in May from UMBC!  (He's a local guy!)  
 

3/16/12 . . . The website will not be updated for a few days, as the updater will be out of the office. 

3/16/12 .  . . In Office Support: Volunteers Marge Collins and Casey Dutton spent today at the Red Cross Office assisting with Adminstrative work today!  THANK YOU!!  Pam Evans was here doing Casework, and Rich Scanlan was here doing Mass Care work.  Louie Jerez was also here doing Logistics work.  Thanks, Everyone!
Red Cross in the Media:  If you did not yet see this GREAT article about our Angie Gallas, take a look:

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-12-12/explore/bs-exho-driven-by-disaster-20111212_1_disaster-hurricane-irene-home-fire
And, here is an article recognizing our Hometown Hero, Baltimore County Emergency Manager Lt. Jay Ringgold:

http://essex.patch.com/articles/baltimore-county-firefighter-honored-as-hometown-hero

3/14/12 . . .Response:  Last night Christine Copper, Pat Miller and Phillip Bovender, RN completed a disaster response in Anne Arundel County and Stanley Johnson completed a follow-up home visit for another client today.  Joyce Lloyd and Michelle Thompson also assisted a Fire Client in Charles county this week.  Hometown Heros: The American Red Cross hosted a recognition of Hometown Heros and a Funraiser last night.  The Red Cross  Awardees included -  The Chairman Award: Dr. Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., M.D., The Community Impact Award: The Junior League of Baltimore, The Generation of Giving Award: The Paterakis Family, The Lifetime Achievement Award: Shoshana Shoubin Cardin, and The Homeland Hero Award: Baltimore County Fire Specialist Jay Ringgold.  As disaster workers, we are VERY proud of Jay, as he is often part of the Incidient Command team for disasters in Baltimore County.  It is wonderful to see our local Emergency Managers recognized for their hard work and long hours.  Also, Cyndi Ryan, Louie Jerez, Tony Ramos and Mike McDaniel were there to help recognize the families of our Local Fallen Armed Forces Heroes.  Tony and Louie also brought the ERV to the reception, and took remaining, packaged, food over to 'Our Daily Bread' after the reception.   Here are some pictures from the event:
Picture 1: Baltimore County Emergency Manager Jay Ringgold with his wife, and with Pam Spring, Director The Office Of Emergency Operations, Department of Human Resources (our State-Level ESF-6 Lead).  They are some of our favorite Government Partners, and we were excited the Red Cross was honoring Jay!
Picture 2: American Red Cross, Southern Maryland Volunteer Mr. Bruce Gentile and his wife.  We are SO HAPPY to be in your region, Bruce!



Picture 3: American Red Cross, Chesapeake Region Program Manager: Southern Maryland Michelle Thompson and her husband.  Thank you for driving up!!
Picture 4: Bethany Brown, feeling like the luckiest woman in the place between two very well dressed gentlemen, Red Cross Logistics Volunteers Tony Ramos and Louie Jerez. 

Picture 5:  Louie Jerez's fantastic family, who are also Red Cross supporters!  And some of our favorite, favorite people!  Behind them is Disaster Mass Care Volunteer Greg Myers.  (Hi, Greg!)
Picture 6: Event Organizer Kristen Duncan (Red Cross Employee) with Louie Jerez.  They put on a FANTASTIC EVENT!

Picture 7:  Red Cross PR Director Doug Lent goofs around with Tony Ramos while they load the ERV in their suits and ties.
Picture 8: Bethany Brown helps load the ERV to donate extra food to "Our Daily Bread."  (We love them- they serve over 300,000 meals to local people who need food every year.) 
 

3/13/12 . . . Response: Today we have one team out in Baltimore County, another team, lead by Phillip Bovender, RN, out in Baltimore City, and we had 2 disaster clients in Garrett County last night that Sharon Logsdon and Leslie Fries have been assisting.  Training/Nursing: Also today, Bethany Brown lead a Health Services Response Workshop for Nuring students from Coppin State.  Casework: Lynford Johnson, Pamela Evans, and a new volunteer Ashley Gillispie were in the office to day helping with Recovery Casework. 

3/12/12 . . . GREAT RED CROSS WEEKEND!!!  We had several volunteers at fires, including a double response in Baltimore that Kim Gee, Phillip Bovender (RN) and members of the Johns Hopkins Red Cross club  went on.  There was a fire with medical needs in Westminster that Phillip also took care of.  Over in Howard County, Laura Woodard and Riley Fenlon responded to a fire, with Loren Taylor on standby to respond.  At the same time, our awesome mass care expert Pat Miller was teaching a Logistics class, and brought her famous donuts!  9 more Maryland volunteers are now logistics trained!  Thank you - Erin, Jessica, Eric, Mark, Patrick, Tom, Emery, Sandra, and Andy!!  Logistics are KEY to successful disater work!  Happy Monday, everyone - we are starting the week on a good note, as 'new-to-Maryland' but already a Red Crosser volunteer Aja Hannah is out at her first Maryland fire this morning with Coleta Trueheart.  Let's hope for lots more new volunteers, but lots fewer fires.   

03/9/12 . .  . Thank you for covering!  Since we are down even more paid staff than usual (how is that possible??) in the office last week and next week, several volunteers have stepped up to take shifts to help cover daytime response.  Those volunteers are: Kevin Burr, Phyllis Doyle, Kim Gee, Nancy Germain, Rebecca Grasham, Liz Shively, Rebecca Tucker, Barbara Schiner, Julie Rottkamp, Dottie Warfield, Angie Gallas, Aja Hannah, Stanley Johnson, Louie Jerez, Tony Ramos and Pat Shaw.   And, Rich Scanlan is always on daytime stand-by!  Thank you!  Disaster Response will always continue, even if all of the Red Cross paid staff disappeared!   
Response . .  . Special 'thank you' to Sharon Logsdon and Angela Frye for responding to help a family who had a fire in Garrett County yesterday. 

3/9/12 . . . Casework reminders - if you are at a single family fire, please put BOTH NAMES of the Red Cross responders on the 901.  Here are some reminders of how we'd like 901s filled out locally:
https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ARtCMYiW7DAQZGY2Mm14cWdfNTNna21jN3Bmcg

Training:  There is a Logistics class in Baltimore tomorrow.  Have you signed up?  It qualifies you for several jobs on National Disasters.  Email Bethany if you'd like to come - bbrown@arc-cmc.org

3/8/12 . . .  There has been so, so, so much work done by our disaster volunteers these few weeks!  Thank you for everything you do!  It is truly unbelivable.   Here is a recap of some of it, I do not yet have dispatch information, or complete information from some activities, so I apologize for people that I miss mentioning - and there are many of you!  The last 2 weeks, you guys have done some very, very difficult responses, including several families who didn't speak English, and many families who had to make traumatic escapes from burning houses.  Every response is hard, and I have added a few details if I had them.  There were also several probable dryer fires (not that we ask or ever know the cause of fires!!!), so I would like to add a quick reminder to check your lint traps, clean the back of  your dryer, and maintain a proper venting system.  In fact - go check that right now! 

Disaster Response for family fires:
Jody Rosoff completed 3 cases on 2/24/2012!  WOW!
Tony Ramos and  Bethany Brown did a response on 2/24/2012 for a family that didn't speak English.  Thank you, Tony!  You were awesome, as usual!
Jacqueline Yates did an Anne Arundel County resonse on 2/23/12
Sue Recker and Rosalie Pack responded twice in Baltimore on 2/24/12 (Red information updated since original post)
On 2/24/12, Tony Colantonio responded in Calvert County
Bruce Gentile responded in Charles County on 2/25/12
Pat Shaw and Audrey Brasel responded on 2/25/12
2/26/12, Phillip Bovender, RN completed a response
2/26/12, Louie Jerez and Leslie Fries completed a response in Anne Arundel
2/26/12 in Frederick, Terry Galloway responded in Frederick County
Also on 2/26/12, Mark Rose and Eric Griffin responded in Washington County
On 2/27/12, Rich Scanlan responded to an apartment fire
On 2/28/12, Pat Shaw and Rich Scanlan assisted at a multi-family fire
Cara Marrero and Barbara Schiner responded on 2/29/12
2/29/12, Justin Linksz completed back-to-back responses
3/2/12, Coleta Trueheart responded
Rebecca Tucker and Liz Shively responded on 3/3/12
3/4/12, Godfrey Effoe responded
3/5/12 - Kim Gee and Rebecca Grasham responded
On 3/5/12, Sal Culotta completed a really tough response where someone with a small child had to escape a burning house
3/5/12 - Harold White and Marc Ebersberger responded to a family that didn't speak English,  thank you to Song Park for being available to translate by phone.
3/6/12 in Baltimore, Barbara Schiner and Dottie Warfield helped a family that had to escape a buring house and there was no roof left on the house
3/6/12 - Phillip Bovender, RN responded to help 3 families who again, barely escaped buring houses
3/6/12 - in Anne Arundel County, Louie Jerez and Phyllis Doyle responded twice, once to some with functional needs who had a traumatic escape from a buring house
We have teams out all the time, and we are so proud of the work that you do.  Keep making the world a little better!

Additionally, on dispatch for the last 2 weeks we've had - Arnie Shore, Caroline Babylon, Wendell Baxter, Georgia Valliancourt,  Vanessa Kirkland, Rachel Stevenson, Lindsay Stroh, Pauletta Bratcher, Jean Wu, Doug Schollenberger, Kristina Rassen, Vicky Gregory, Linda Colantonio, Tony Colantonio, Diane Murphy, Mark Coontz, Bob McEnroe, Angel Frye, Leslie Fries, Phil Deitchman, Marc Ebersberger, Bruce Gentile, Earl Buffaloe, Joe Paglierani, Kari Gang, Bethany Brown and Gonzalo Hernandez.
Gonzalo Hernandez, Leslie Fries, Judy Peterson, Michelle Thompson, Angela Frye and Darlene Scribner have been sharing response supervisor rolls. 

Client Casework:  Pam Evans has been putting in over 30 hours a week doing recovery planning and follow-up casework!  She has been here for several months, and has done dozens of cases now.  We are very lucky to have her!!!!  Lynford Johnson and Marc Ebersberger come in one day a week, every single week, and help us to close and audit cases.  We COULD NOT provide the best level of recovery care without you guys!!  THANK YOU!

Logistics:  Louie Jerez has been putting in 40 hours a week, Tony Ramos has been been doing at least 30 hours a week, and Ken Smallwood did at least 8 hours this week for logistics, fleet management, refurbishing our trailers, and shelter kit & sheltee inventory.    And somehow, they seem to have the most fun.  You guys!  Here is Tony sanding down one of the trailers.  By the way . . . guess who now has a trailer pulling truck?  WE DO!  Yahoo!  
Picture by Louie Jerez

Mass Care and Sheltering work:  Rich Scanlan has been putting in 30 hours a week getting the NSS database up to date, helping to preview shelter classes, and completing shelter surveys.  Pat Miller has also been provinding Mass Care guidance, and she has been supporting that function with our chapter for years.  Her brain is one of the single best disaster resources in the whole state!

Drills and exercises: Leslie has been covering some planning meetings for upcoming drills and exercises.   Rich Scanlan, Sandra Krause, and Pat Shaw participated in the JEMS exercise in Baltimore City on Friday, 3/2/12.  The scenario being tested was a tornado, and First Responders were practicing triage.  Our Red Cross volunteers were requested to add to the ambiance of a tornado response.  THANK YOU for helping First Responders!  Besides our Red Cross volunteers, they are our favorite people in the world!


 
Pictures by Rich Scanlan

Training Classes:
- On 2/23/12, Mike Parrish taught a Psychological First Aid class
- On 2/23/12, Leslie Fries taught a shelter training for State Government Partners in Anne Arundel County
- On Friday, 2/24/12, Bethany Brown and Warren Adams taught a shelter training for State Government Partners in Baltimore - On Saturday, 2/25/12, Bethany Brown taught a Client Casework training to our Red Cross Club over at Johns Hopkins University (they are actively participating in DAT response! - Thank you, Team JHU!),
- On 2/28, 2/29 and 3/1/12 Casey Dutton, Ken Smallwood and Pat Miller taught the National Civilian Community Corps students disaster sheltering and logistics so they can help Red Cross on National Responses
- On 3/3/12, Bethany Brown taught a shelter training to disaster partners in St. Mary's County.  Southern Maryland Red Cross Team Members Bruce Gentile, Linda Colantonio, Tony Colantonio, and Michelle Thompson were there, too!
- On 3/6/12, Casey Dutton taught Client Casework to our new group of Coppin State Nursing students
- On 3/5 and 3/6, Bethany Brown, Yvette Bowman, Warren Adams and Johnny Hatten taught 120 Governement Partners shelter training in Washington County.  Yvette, Warren and Johnny will be there teaching disaster training all week. 

And last, SAF Work:  The Service to the Armed Forces Team, lead by Cyndi Ryan and Mike McDaniel, have helped 3 local families in the last 6 weeks that are grieving the loss of loved ones serving abroad in the Armed Forces.  They will be needing additional volunteers 3/18 and 3/19.  Please contact Cyndi Ryan if you can help.

3/1/2012 . . . If you are a fully qualified ERV driver in the DSHR system, please start considering your national disater availability for the next few months.  Thank you :( 

2/27/12 . . . Service to the Armed Forces - There was another casualty in our serving area.  Our Service to the Armed Forces team started working with the family over the weekend.  If you are on the team, or would like to assist for this incredibly sad response, please be prepared to help this week. 
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-national-guard-death-20120226,0,2397314.story

2/27/12 . . . There were 3 winners for the Presedential trivia, all with different but valid answers - Ken Waldrop, Rebecca Tucker and Judy Peterson.  They will all get prizes - thank you for playing! 

2/26/12 . . . . So, nevermind about the post below!  We were able to recover the calendar.  YAY!  But, it would still be very cool if we could do regular shifts, in case something like that does happen.  So, send in your shift choice anyway, please.  Thank you, Baltimore DAT, and any other responder willing to go out in Baltimore.  And, I stopped eating all those desserts, if you were concerned of my health.  :)  

2/26/12 . . .  .Whoops!  Looks like someone accidently deleted the entire DAT calendar for Baltimore shifts.  Good thing we are disaster workers, and we just roll with it!  Since we are starting over from scratch, now is a really good time for everyone to choose a regular shift.   Please choose a shitft you would like, and we will sign you up for that shift every week, or every other week.  That way our schedule is more predictable, and we know better where our gaps are.  Considering how tough response has been lately, we would like to know what peoples commitment times are, so we can do more targeted recruitment, and eventually all of us will get fewer pages - which would be fantastic for our sleep schedules.  You know what I am talking about.  If signing up for a regular shift is impossible, we still need you!!!  Please still sign up when you can.  And of course, if you can do more than a regular schedule, please sign up for extra shifts whenever you can.  So, please email Bethany the regular shift you would like (bbrown@arc-cmc.org) and she will re-populate a nice, full, schedule.  Choose between every week, and every other week.  Here are your choices:

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday
12:01am-8:00am
8:00am-12:00pm
12:00pm-5:00pm
5:00pm - 11:59pm
At precisely midnight, no one is on call, and no fires allowed.

Saturday or Sunday
12:01am-7:00am
7:00am-12:00pm
12:00pm-5:00pm
5:00pm-11:59pm

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO!!!!!  Everyone is working very, very hard, and last month we had more than 70 DIFFERENT volunteers doing response activities!  The staff has been under extra stress lately, since realignment and downsizing, and people leaving or retiring, so we might forget to say 'Thank you!' as often as we should.  But, you are the most important part of the Red Cross, and we know how hard it is to get out of bed or leave your house and voluntarily launch yourself into a disater.  So, we sincerely thank you for being part of the team.  Whether you go out or dispatch one time, or 100 times, your time and efforts are valuable, and the whole community needs you!  Have a great Sunday night! (Myself, I'm going to go eat some chocolate, some ice-cream, some cookies, a cake, a pie, and anything else I can find.)

2/19/12 . . . Tomorrow, Monday, Feb 20 is President's Day and the office will be closed.  Response will continue normally.    Presidential Trivia:  The first person to email the correct answer to Bethany at bbrown@arc-cmc.org will receive a prize.  Winner will be announced on Tuesday.  Which president is related by blood or marriage to eleven other presidents? 

2/8/12 . . .  DAT MEETINGS CANCELED TONIGHT!!!!!  Baltimore, Howard, and Anne Arundel DAT meetings are ALL CANCELED for tonight because we are expecting snow, and we would like everyone to stay home and drink hot cocoa with your feet up.   The Baltimore meeting is rescheduled for February 15, Anne Arundel is rescheduled for the February 22, Howard is still considering a reschedule.   Please be safe and have a great evening!

2/6/12 . . . Reports by/from Acting Director/Assistant Director Hernandez:

12/20/11 . .  .Hello!  How are you?  Thank you for visiting this website today!  It is a good day here at the Red Cross - no fires yet today!  Pam Evans is here doing recovery casework and working on a medication replacement, and Louie Jerez is here doing Logistics work.  Thanks, Pam and Louie!  Later today, we have some brand new volunteers coming in for Client Casework training.  So, our volunteers are active even though there is no response so far. 
NURSING:   The meeting schedule for 2012 is ready, and we have a CPR for the Professional Rescuer class in February.  Click Here!
DAT Leadership: I need your meeting schedules for 2012, please!  Email them to Bethany at bbrown@arc-cmc.org or Gonz at ghernandez@arc-cmc.org  Thank you! 
SAF: The Service to the Armed Forces Team could use some additional help in mid January.  If you have some availability, and you'd like to help, please contact Cyndi Ryan at cryan@arc-cmc.org

12/19/11 . . . Response:  It's the holiday season, boop be doop, tra la la la la la!  It is always tough to get up from what you're doing at home, get dressed, and launch yourself into the middle of a disaster, but never more so than when you have a million holiday tasks to get done, AND, BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE!  But, as we all know, fires continue, so THANK YOU to everyone who helps out this week!  Hanukkah starts tomorrow, and Christmas is on Sunday, so if you can please sign up for a Baltimore shift this week, that would be great.  Last year I did a fire on Christmas night, and it made me even more grateful for my holiday week.  Right now, Marge Collins and Lindsay Stroh are at a fire helping a family in Baltimore, and Rich Scanlan is here covering response for Ken and Gonz.  Pam Evans is in the office helping Yolanda with recovery planning.  We are happy to have you guys around today!  (And every day!)
SAF:  Our SAF team is working with the family of US Army Spc. Ronald Wildrick, Jr. who died in Afghanistan on December 11.  His family is from Frederick, and we are working jointly with the local Frederick Chapter.  Services will be in January.  SAF team members who can help, please contact Cyndi with your availability.  A very special thank you to Mike McDaniel, who completed a home visit with Cyndi over the weekend. 
Red Cross in the Community:  In the last few weeks, Leslie and Bethany have been in almost every jurisdiction for Emergency Operations Planning meetings and Community Disaster planning and exercise meetings.  Also, shelter training with and for our government partners continues - several trainings a month.  On Saturday, Rich Scanlan, Louie Jerez and ERVing represented the Red Cross at the Fire Museum of Maryland Emergency Vehicle Day.  Thanks, Gentlemen! 

12/12/11 . . .  Response: Our volunteers had a really rough weekend.  There were 7 terrible fires, all with their own very sad circumstances.  We are working closely with the family that had the fatal fire over the weekend.  Our responders also helped find missing cats at a fire this weekend, and gave care to several elderly clients.  As usual, our volunteers create a new standard for compassion in disaster work.  A special thank you this weekend to volunteers Jim Elliott , Jim Gourley, Rich Scanlan, Vanessa Kirkland, Ken Waldrop, Marge Collins, John Johnson, Zabecca Brinson, Jody Rosoff and James Brumfield (Happy Birthday, James!).  Also, thank you to Kim Gee who is at a fire this morning.  Pam Evans, Lynford Johnson, and Marc Ebersberger are doing a phenomenal amount of work assisting in-office with follow up casework.  Also, we don't usually thank staff on this website, but Gonzalo Hernandez and Yolanda Williams have both been working at least 2 jobs for the last few months, and we appreciate their extra efforts! 
Building Info: ***Building Closure Info - 4800 Mount Hope Drive will be closed on Fri. Dec. 23, Mon. Dec 26 and Mon. Jan. 2.  Response continues as usual, staff is on call as usual.***
Retirement Party:  Ken's retirement party will be on Friday, Dec. 30 at 6pm, here at the Chapter.  PLEASE SAVE THE DATE.  ALL ARE INVITED- staff, volunteers, partners, friends, whoever!  Email Bethany if you are coming (bbrown@arc-cmc.org.) 
DAT Meeting Info: Thank you to everyone who attended the DAT meeting in Baltimore on Thursday!  We had a very nice time, and gave out some awards of appreciation.  We will be posting pictures and information about award winners on the recognition page in the next few days.  I would like to offer very special appreciation for Lenore Koors, who donated and prepared the food that night - it was delicious!  Also thank you to Kevin Burr, a new volunteer (haha) who helped pass out the awards!  THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR FANTASTIC RED CROSS PEOPLE!  Every single one of you contribute to the thousands of local disaster response we have had these last few years!!! More pictures to come, below, Janet Michel and Dennis Ayers receive appreciation from Kevin Burr.  -