American Red Cross

If you’re a hotmail user, this is pretty much the easiest way I can imagine for you to become involved in the American Red Cross, and we want to make sure you know that you can now donate to the Red Cross by sending Hotmail email in addition to IMing with Windows Messenger.

With the recent program expansion, Microsoft essentially doubles the opportunity for giving, allowing customers to support the i’m Initiative using both Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Hotmail. By following the directions at http://im.live.com, people can add the i’m Initiative to each account, but are not required to add the i’m Initiative to both accounts. Microsoft will make a donation to the American Red Cross every time someone sends a message using Windows Live Messenger or Windows Live Hotmail.

If participants select the Red Cross as their cause of choice, donations will support the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to disaster survivors. With no set cap on the amount donated, the more a participant uses the services, the more money goes to help the Red Cross respond to disasters of every size and scope. Each year, in communities large and small, the Red Cross responds to more than 70,000 emergencies, with help and hope provided by hundreds of thousands of volunteers of all ages.

This week Toledo, Ohio held a dedication ceremony for the Veterans' Glass City Skyway.

The American Red Cross was there to hand out bottled water to visitors. Craig from Idea Treks wondered who paid for all this water and we were able to provide some info to him. See the exchange below.

Original Blog post:

Veterans’ Glass City Skyway Dedication
Idea Treks
The second picture shows the bottles of water and Special K water which the Red Cross was handing out as people got off the bus on the bridge.  (I’m curious about who paid for this stuff - hopefully disaster relief funds weren’t involved)

American Red Cross comment:
Hi Craig,
Can I please clarify something that appears in your blog?
American Red Cross volunteers gave their time to pass out plain and Special K water to participants in the much awaited bridge opening. The water was donated to the ODOT and the bridge committee from Giant Eagle and the Kellogg Corporation and not purchased with donated dollars. Our volunteers were just the conduit to pass it out to walkers and other spectators to keep them hydrated in the heat of the day. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please give me a call or e-mail [redacted]. Have a good day.

Blogger return comment:
Craig Says: June 27th, 2007 at 11:33 am
Thanks very much for your clarification Diane. I appreciate you taking the time to comment on my post. I didn’t really think that disaster relief funds were used for the water, but I did wonder who had supplied it. While I’m sure the Red Cross is helped greatly by corporate donations throughout the year and during times of crisis I am a bit surprised that Giant Eagle and Kellogg’s didn’t want some type of sign on the premises stating that they had donated the water. Bloggers provide one more way for Americans to get answers! Thanks again!

The lovely Nicki at The Birthplace of the Process of Illogical Logic gave a shout-out to the new Red Cross Twitter channel. She also highlights the ongoing Red Cross Disaster Portal we've been working on for about 6 months now.

Below is Nicki's post. Read it and check out the Twitter channel.

I’d like to introduce you guys to someone: Ike Pigott. He’s a local blogger that I ran across on Twitter some time ago. I’ve been following his blog, Occam’s RazR, for a while now. He works for Red Cross and has an extensive background in communications.

He’s recently set himself upon a personal quest to utilize the online tools and social media for disaster relief and aid. He’s created the Red Cross Online Disaster Portal and opened the Red Cross Twitter Channel.

The idea is that people in evacuation zones could “follow” the Red Cross Twitter feed from their cell phones, and find out about shelter locations and service delivery sites.

I think it’s a great idea, and I’m personally excited to be able to see first-hand the mediums that we have available to us today being put to use for such a great cause. This will be especially handy for us locally with hurricane season coming up, as well as tornado season!

If you are interested in helping out or would like more information, please contact Ike. I’m sure that he’d love to hear from you and could use any and all help sent his way!

1. Log in to Flickr.com
2. Go to the American Red Cross group page
3. Click Join This Group icon
4. Add your Red Cross-related photos!

1. Get a kit
2. Make a plan
3. Be informed

... a philanthropic initiative aimed at raising awareness and funds for nonprofit organizations around the world. The initiative gives each non-profit a platform to leverage LinkedIn’s international network of 11 million professionals and virally spread the word about their organization.

Blue Herald

Nothing and All

Immonem Illustrations

American Timeline

Answers.com

Google has compiled before and after satellite images of Greensburg, Kansas. The result is a powerful look at the devastation this area has suffered.

From the Guardian Unlimited Technology Blog:

Before:

And after:

(If you want to donate to relief for the citizens there, you can use the US Red Cross website.)

A kind soul has compiled this handy information for anyone to place on their own blog, and it appears to be spreading around. Thank you to everyone who is posting it.

******
Can you help the Kansas Tornado Victims?

My MySpace "friend" Russell Lee Lovenstein has asked that I pass this information on. If you are able and.or know anyone else who is able, would you forward this information on.

Greensburg Tornado American Red Cross information.
Address: 
American Red Cross
Cannonball Trail Chapter
114 N Main, Suite B
Pratt, KS 67124
Phone: 620-672-3651
Fax: 620-672-9283

Salina Flood American Red Cross Information
North Central Kansas Red Cross
145 S Santa Fe
Salina KS 67401
785.827.3644
785.827.4572 Fax

Tornado Story

Salina Flood Story

American National Red Cross Donation Information

Financial Donations
Thank you for your generosity. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate a donation for a specific disaster, please do so at the time of donation. To make a financial donation:

Click here or  call 1-800-REDCROSS (1-800-733-2767) or 1-800-257-7575 (Español)

Mail a Donation to:
American Red Cross — P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013
National American Red Cross website

Please consider donating to either the Red Cross or The Salvation Army to help the victims of last week's tornadoes, most notably the one that wiped out Greensburg, Kansas. And, of course, disasters to come.

• The Centre Daily Times in State College, PA hosts a Red Cross blog called Paint the Town Red
• The Upstate SC chapter is posting regularly
• The North Central Oklahoma Chapter is blogging semi-regularly
• The Centennial Chapter (Northern Colorado) is also giving it a go

Heroes inspire other heroes, and kindness is contagious. Help us start a chain reaction. Here's your chance to say "you're my hero" to the people who have touched your life. The Red Cross invites you to add your voice to the chorus of heartfelt thanks rising up from your hometown. Help us celebrate America's Hometown Heroes.

According to the Red Cross, only 6-percent of people are prepared for a natural disaster in the Bay Area, which led to an aggressive push by the non-profit to literally show people what to expect when the big one hits. And it's not just the big one we should be prepared for. "Disasters come in all shapes and sizes," says Prepare Bay Area spokesperson Michael Patrick. "Even though our thrust in this particular campaign is earthquakes, the American Red Cross responds to all kinds of disasters including rock slides, floods, and fires." Which means the preparing you do for an earthquake -- make a plan, create a water, food, and first aid kit, and get trained -- can help whether you're in an earthquake, tornado, hurricane, or even, a terrorist attack.

The Red Cross has counseled nearly 600 individuals, served over 1,000 meals and snacks, brought in 200 spiritual care ministers, nine pet therapy teams and 24 staff members, of which I am just one. We flew in family members from around the globe and told the story to the world through well over 100 network and affiliate news sources from five different continents. My alarm would sound at 5:00 in the morning and I wouldn't turn out the light until 11:00 or 12:00 at night.

Red Cross Offers Resources to Help Children and Adults Cope with Tragedy

American Red Cross Supports Community Following Virginia Tech Tragedy

As you know, I took an American Red Cross class on Saturday that I felt was less th[a]n satisfactory. I just got off the phone with one of the directors for the Mile High (Denver) chapter of the American Red Cross.

I wrote about my thoughts on the class last night at 10:30 pm and now I was actually talking to [a] real person who was trying to help me out. That is why this is so awesome. The American Red Cross cares about me as a person and they're willing to go the extra kilometer [to] make sure that I'm happy.

In the long term, this gives the American Red Cross HUGE points. I can't tell you [how] highly I think of them now. I'd even venture to say that because of his call, I am now significantly more likely to take another class from the American Red Cross then I was before.

And all it took was a seven minute phone call.

Well I've got 20 minutes left of donating my platelets, so here i am. the [M]inneapolis American Red Cross center, i think is the best. the staff are wonderful and they have internet available. i highly recommend checking to see if you're eligible to donate platelets. it's another wonderful way to help save lives. The platelets are what helps you to clot when you're bleeding and the process of separating out the platelets from your blood is called apheresis. well, i'm almost done here so i will sign off.
www.givebloodgivelife.org

A Lynchburg family was displaced Saturday evening after a fire damaged their Morgan Street home. The cause: a failed attempt at killing a snake. Battalion Chief Walt Bailey said around 4 p.m. Saturday a man was working in his yard in the 200 block of Morgan Street when he saw a snake. He decided to kill the snake by throwing gasoline on it and setting it on fire.

When he struck the match, Bailey said, a bush near the house also caught on fire. Bailey said the man got out a garden hose, and thought he put out the fire.

However, the radiant heat from the bush ignited the insulation underneath the house’s metal siding. Bailey said no one could tell the house was on fire for a couple of hours. Around 9:07 p.m., the Lynchburg Fire Department was dispatched to the scene. Bailey said he didn’t know how much damage was caused, but estimated it is in the thousands of dollars.

He said smoke was coming out from the side of the house and out of the attic. “It’s not a total loss,” he said. “One of the walls in the home was burned through, and the ceilings had to be broken up.”

The family of five is now with the Lynchburg Chapter of the American Red Cross.

“I guess the moral of this story is that no matter how much you don’t like snakes, throwing gasoline on them is not a good way of killing them,” Bailey said.

Try to remain calm. You are reading a blog written by an actual, certified Red Cross Water Safety Instructor. Or, as I prefer, WSI. I had to take a class, and read books, and demonstrate skills, and even cram for a test. [...] The point is, with those 3 letters I think I can charge close to $40/hr for swim lessons. Considering I'll spend most of the summer drenched in chlorine anyway, I might as well get paid for it.

So today while donating blood I c[a]me up [with] the most fantastic idea. More awesome than cup stacking, more awesome than dodgeball. Yes it's a race to see who can fill up that pint sized IV bag of blood faster. I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that this is a sporting event soon to sweep the nation. Keep your eyes peeled on ESPN 8, The Ocho.

The rules were simple. Once they started taking your blood the time started. Once they tied off the tube you were done. (The nurses kept time for us for the sake of impartial judging). Through the course of the event new rules had to be made to compensate for some "cheating".

A) If you got a cold cloth for your forehead/back of neck that was -- +1:00

B) Propping your feet up -- +:30 seconds

C) The nurse comes by gives you fruit juice, a foot massage, gives you a manicure and treats you like Lindsey Lohan at a day spa -- BIG FAT DQ

None of the following happened to me however one in our party received all 3 "penalties". The competition was fierce and all competitors displayed fine skills in athleticism and strength. The scores have been tallied and the judges have agreed.

First Place-- Chris "Blazing Pipes" Scott- 5:24

Second Place-- Shawn "Watch me Pump" Arnett- 6:03

3rd Place-- Scott "Watch me Squirt" Ponte- 6:34

Disqualified-- Tom "I got the day spa gift package" Tedesco- (10:00+ who the [curse word deleted - this is a family blog] counts after 7)

Donate blood to your local Red Cross. Someone out there thanks you.