Capital Region Cares Capital Region Cares 2017-2018 | Page 63

100 Years of Service
in the Gold Country
100
CORPORATE ANNIVERSARY
YE ARS
the emergency link between families and deployed
military service members, and offers an array of
preparedness programs, including the Pillowcase
Project which teaches kids from 3 rd through 5 th grade
how to be ready in case of disaster. “Sometimes
kids’ passion can inspire entire families to prepare
as they might not otherwise, ” notes Strong. For
teens and adults, the Red Cross also offers a variety
of phone apps filled with emergency preparedness
information and quizzes.
Another preparedness program, the Home Fire
Campaign, is confirmed to have saved 215 lives
nationwide already. Its goal is reducing loss of life
in home fires by 25 percent nationwide over five
years by getting smoke alarms into homes that don’t
have them. Working with city governments and fire
departments to identify neighborhoods in need, the
Red Cross will install them free of charge and help
develop personalized escape plans.
“There are many ways we can work with
businesses to best serve our region, and we
welcome them as partners, especially those
headquartered in our territory, ” says Strong. “The
generosity of donors is critical to our mission.
As the Red Cross is not a government agency, we
rely on private contributions to provide services.
We are proud of our efficiency — as shown by
the independent rating agency Charity Navigator,
more than 90 percent of donor funds are spent on
programs and services. ”
The American Red Cross Gold Country Region
is celebrating its centennial anniversary, having
played a critical role during and after disasters large
and small, and preparing individuals, families and
communities for those disasters, for 100 years.
The Red Cross Gold Country Region serves 24
counties throughout northeastern California, a ter-
ritory covering 48,000 square miles and 4.4 million
people. A staff of 35 is backed by generous donors
and approximately 2,300 volunteers, all sharing
in the Red Cross mission to prevent and alleviate
human suffering in the face of emergencies.
Volunteers from any walk of life are always
welcome and range from kids in youth clubs to
retired professionals. “People with a heart for
helping people seek us out, ” says CEO Gary Strong.
“We have many volunteer needs in good times and
in times of disaster and can connect those needs
to people’s interests, and offer training to develop
their skills. ”
The Red Cross is there for man-made and natural
disasters from individual home fires to wildfires,
earthquakes, and floods. Gold Country Region
volunteers respond to a home fire on average every
10 hours, and will show up at any time of day or night,
365 days a year, giving hope and assistance to those
who have lost everything. “Our work covers all parts
of the disaster cycle — preparing for it, responding
to it, and recovering from it, ” says Strong.
The Red Cross is the nation’s single largest blood
collector, provides health and safety classes, acts as
LEBRATING
CE
916.993.2070 | www.redcross.org/goldcountry
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