In Case You Missed It - July 28

Alex Poku is a volunteer instructor who teaches children how to prepare for emergencies.

Over the last seven days, the Greater New York Red Cross provided emergency assistance to 61 adults and 18 children following 37 local disasters. Here are some highlights from last week and a preview of upcoming activities. (See below) 

Last Week In Review

• Our thoughts are with Texas as they respond and recover from Hurricane Hanna.
• Throughout the week we shared safety tips to help beat the heat.
• Last Tuesday, the national American Red Cross social media accounts featured our very own Alex Poku, a volunteer instructor who helps teach children how to prepare for emergencies.
• Last week, our volunteers distributed fruit boxes and care packages to the Columbia University-Irving Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian Queens as part of the NYC Healthcare Heroes Initiative.
• There is an emergency shortage of convalescent plasma as COVID-19 cases surge across the US.
• Last Tuesday, Council Member Robert F. Holden, Senator Joe Addabbo, and Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato co-hosted a special emergency preparedness presentation for their constituents.
• Red Cross is standing up a “Hurricane Reserve Core” team to deploy locally in the event of a major storm in our area. Join us!

Upcoming Events and Activities

• We are actively recruiting for the following volunteer positions: Ready Red Cross Shelter Volunteer. Apply today at www.redcross.org/volunteer! For more information, please contact recruitmentgny@redcross.org.
• To find a blood drive near you click here. 
• July 29: Pillowcase Project is a online program that teaches children how to prepare for emergencies. Register for an online session here. 
• July 28: Prepare, Respond, Recover is a free virtual training about what you and your community can do when natural and man-made disasters strike. Register for an online session here.
• August 4, 27: Sheltering Volunteer Information Session covers how you can become a Sheltering Volunteer, so you can help during an active hurricane season in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Case You Missed It — July 20

Senator Joe Addabbo joined Red Cross teams in delivering meals to elderly residents in the Rockaways.

Over the last seven days, the Greater New York Red Cross provided emergency assistance to 65 adults and 9 children following 35 local disasters. Here are some highlights from last week and a preview of upcoming activities. (See below)

Last Week In Review

• As part of our #MyRedCrossLife Instagram series, we featured Mitch Kassel, who recently relocated to Florida and is now volunteering with the Fort Lauderdale Red Cross.
• Last Wednesday, Senator Joe Addabbo joined Red Cross teams in delivering meals to elderly residents in the Rockaways, in partnership with JASA. 
• Here is how the Red Cross has been helping people during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
• State Farm is challenging their employees, agents, customers, family, friends, and neighbors to schedule a blood donation appointment due to a critical blood shortage. 
• Last week, volunteers distributed fruit boxes to Allen Hospital as part of the NYC Healthcare Heroes Initiative. 
• Senator Robert Jackson and NYS Assemblywoman Carmen De La Rosa co-hosted a special emergency preparedness presentation for their constituents. 
• We are grateful for Carolina Herrera’s Heart for Hope initiative and its generous support of the American Red Cross during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. 
• Last week, Red Cross featured Gian Marco Delle Sedie who signed up to volunteer in order to make a positive impact on his community during COVID-19. Since then has deployed to Texas following Tropical Storm Cristobal, delivered food and supplies to hospital workers and helped a drowning boy in Far Rockaway.

Upcoming Events and Activities

• We are actively recruiting for the following volunteer positions: Ready Red Cross Shelter Volunteer. Apply today at www.redcross.org/volunteer! For more information, please contact recruitmentgny@redcross.org.
• To find a blood drive near you click here.  
• July 22, 29: Pillowcase Project is a virtual online program that teaches children how to prepare for emergencies. Register for an online session here.  
• July 20, 21, 23, 28: Prepare, Respond, Recover is a free virtual online training about what you and your community can do when natural and man-made disasters strike. Register for an online session here. 
• August 4, 27: Sheltering Volunteer Information Session covers how you can become a Sheltering Volunteer, so you can help during an active hurricane season in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Case You Missed It — July 13

Our Red Cross teams, including our Long Island CEO Neela Lockel distributed care packages and boxes of fresh fruit for hospital workers as part of the NYC Healthcare Heroes Initiative. 

Over the last seven days, the Greater New York Red Cross provided emergency assistance to 75 adults and 24 children following 42 local disasters. Here are some highlights from last week and a preview of upcoming activities. (See below)

Last Week In Review

• On Sunday, our volunteers delivered 24 cleanup kits to 60 families on E 86th Street & Ave M in Canarsie, Brooklyn who were impacted by a sewage flooding incident.
• Brad Keiserman, Vice President for Disaster Operations and Logistics at the American Red Cross, spoke on Facebook Live about preparing for a disaster during a pandemic.
• Late last week and into the weekend, we shared lots of safety resources in advance of Tropical Storm Fay.
• We posted this blog story on how to get your kids prepared for hurricane season, with great tips and insight from two Red Cross preparedness experts.
• Last week, Assemblywoman Kimberly Jean-Pierre and Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages teamed up with the Red Cross to co-host special emergency preparedness presentations for their constituents.
• Our Long Island Disaster Action Team volunteers helped three families affected by a fire on Hawthorne Street in Uniondale.
• Last Tuesday and Wednesday, Red Cross teams, including our Long Island CEO Neela Mukherjee Locke worked to distribute care packages and boxes of fresh fruit for hospital workers at Elmhurst Hospital and at Queens Hospital Medical Center as part of the NYC Healthcare Heroes Initiative.

Upcoming Events and Activities

• To find a blood drive near you click here. 
• July 15: Even War Has Rules is a dynamic discussion of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), and how it governs armed conflict. Topics include the sources of law and rules that apply to armed conflicts, the fundamental principles of IHL that guide the development of these rules, and how IHL protects people and places during armed conflicts. Register for an online session here.
• July 15, 22, 29: Pillowcase Project is a virtual online program that teaches children how to prepare for emergencies. Register for an online session here. 
• July 14, 20, 21, 23, 28: Prepare, Respond, Recover is a free virtual online training about what you and your community can do when natural and man-made disasters strike. Register for an online session here.

“Three Questions” with Red Cross Volunteer Gian Marco Delle Sedie

by Yixuan (Shirley) Luo, American Red Cross in Greater New York

"Three Questions” is an American Red Cross in Greater New York blog series featuring staff, volunteers, and partners who help carry out our humanitarian mission. Through these short interviews, we hope to shine a light on our different programs and get to know those who make this work possible.

Gian Marco Delle Sedie started volunteering with the Red Cross in past May. Among his different Red Cross roles, Gian Marco takes shifts supporting the NYC Healthcare Heroes Initiative, providing food and other supplies to hospital workers helping patients amid COVID-19. He has also supported a Red Cross coronavirus program providing food for elderly New Yorkers. On June 24, 2020, following his Red Cross shift in Far Rockaway, Queens, Gian Marco pulled a drowning boy from the ocean.

Gian Marco works as a short-film director, producer, actor. He also works as a server, bartender, and captain. Originally from São Paulo, Brazil, Gian Marco came to the U.S. in October 2017 to study Filmmaking at New York Film Academy. He graduated in January 2019.

What inspired you to join the Red Cross?

In the middle of all these crises, I felt I couldn’t stay at home, just watching TV. I know that it’s safe to stay at home, but I just felt that I could be of more help somewhere else, helping people. So, I got in contact with the Red Cross at the end of March. I took a lot of training courses online. Then I started to take shifts that were available in New York that were for food distribution. Red Cross deployed me to Tropical Storm Cristobal in Houston, Texas. I was there for five days to help with sheltering. After I came back from Texas, I kept doing [COVID-19 program] Red Cross shifts. In June, I normally worked two to three shifts per day and have completed more than 30 shifts last month. I help with bag distribution and food supplies to hospital workers. I also deliver food for senior houses in Far Rockaway on Wednesdays.

Can you tell me about how you saved that 16-year-old drowning boy?

After we finished our shifts at JASA senior home in Far Rockaway, we went to the beach because it was one of our volunteers’, Maria Anguiano, birthday. Suddenly, we saw a lady yelling “Help! Help! There are some kids in the water!” I saw hands outside the water and then they submerged. At first, we thought it was just kids playing. This lady kept shouting and yelling “Help! Help! Help!” In a second, as time passed, I thought I might need to do something because the kid is not coming up and we don’t have much time to save him. So, I ran to the water, but I couldn’t see the kid anymore when I got to the water. I had to dive because he wasn’t on the surface. When I dove, I saw a blur down there on the bottom. I found the kid down there, passed out. He was still floating and going down. I came behind him and started to push him up. Thank God! I was able to push him up in time to get the kid saved. We put him on the sand. Maria arranged him on his side, and he started vomiting a lot of sand and water. Thank God we were there!

What was going through your head during all this?

I’ve been swimming since I was like three years old. I took a lot of swimming classes in my life. I am a very strong swimmer. I never took someone out of the water like this. I may have helped some people in the water but not like this, going to the bottom and bringing someone up. It was kind of scary, but you don’t have time to think about it and you just go.

I was very comforted seeing him breathing again. I felt that night, the boy’s parents won’t be crying because of me and because he is still alive. It was very comforting and nice. I felt very good about it.

Five Tips to Get Your Kids Prepared for Hurricane Season

Learn from the American Red Cross Greater NY Disaster Preparedness Instructors Jason Lyons & Alexander Poku.

by Yixuan (Shirley) Luo, American Red Cross in Greater New York

On June 1, 2020, we entered what is expected to be a very active hurricane season. It is now more important than ever, not only to prepare, but also to adjust our planning efforts for the pandemic. This will help ensure our kids are safe in the event of a storm or other emergency. With the help of two disaster preparedness experts from the American Red Cross in Greater New York, Alex Poku and Jason Lyons, we have five tips to get you and your kids ready for the unexpected.

Red Cross volunteer and father Alex Poku has more than five years’ experience teaching young kids about emergency preparedness. Jason Lyons leads our preparedness programs at the American Red Cross in Greater NY and just welcomed a baby girl to his family at the beginning of the pandemic. These tips come from our conversations with them.

Alex Poku (L) and Jason Lyons (R)

1. "Making a Plan, Building a Kit, and Staying Informed"

The key to disaster preparedness is always, according to Lyons: “make a plan, build a kit, and stay informed.”

The family response plan has to be updated regularly as new circumstances arise and as new family members join, as was the case recently with Lyons. Key to the planning, according to Lyons, is how are you going to get out, and where are you going to go.

Meanwhile, it’s critical to consider what the kids need. “Young children can’t think for themselves, so you have to think for them,” Lyons highlighted, “and we can take away from COVID-19 that you should purchase necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) for you and your family and put it in your kit, so you have these resources available when you need them.”

When the disaster strikes, as he noted, it’s critical to stay aware of the information released by official authorities, follow their guidance, and communicate that information with your kids.

2. "Think and Practice!"

Again, consider the needs of your children. What would they need in a two-week cease period? More importantly, practice with your children and let them get used to the process, ensuring that they will be less shocked or surprised when the time comes.

“Make practice a norm,” Lyons emphasized. Practice responses to different types of emergencies with your children to build their experiences and to ensure that they become conscious of what they should do.

3. “Take Time to Communicate with Kids”

As Poku explains, when kids are talking to each other, that’s not always the truth, it’s just “the kids-version.”

Parents need to share information with kids by communicating and involving them in the conversation: “Find out what kids know and correct it if needed. Take away all the myths they have told you, correct anything false that they understand to be true, and let them understand what the truth is.”

4. “Make Preparedness a Game for Younger Kids and Let Older Ones be in Charge”

According to Poku, for younger kids, parents should make emergency preparedness a fun but serious game.

However, when dealing with older kids, parents shall let them be in charge. As Poku noted, “Teens or pre-teens take being in charge seriously. They like to take the responsibility of being in charge, especially to take care of their younger siblings. As parents, you should give pre-teens and teens this responsibility because that's something they enjoy"

5. “Deep Breaths Make Better Choices”

One of the most significant coping techniques in disaster/emergency preparedness is to take deep breaths. Parents need to get the kids to understand that it’s not just taking deep breaths but it’s a process of breathing slowly and calming down. “Kids need to realize that if they are clam, they can make better choices,” said Poku. Big changes in kids’ reactions to the emergencies take place as they begin to understand deep breaths.

More Online Resources to Help Get Prepared
• How to prepare for an emergency: Emergency Plan, Survival Kit Supplies, Stay Informed
• Info on preparing for hurricane season amid COVID-19 can be found here
• Register for a virtual preparedness session for kids here
• Listen to the latest episode of our Podcast: Kids, Coronavirus and Preparedness

In Case You Missed It — July 7

Gary Striar, Regional CEO of the Red Cross of Eastern New York, was honored by staff and community members during a retirement parade. (Will Waldron, Times Union)

Over the last seven days, the Greater New York Red Cross provided emergency assistance to 95 adults and 39 children following 34 local disasters. Here are some highlights from last week and a preview of upcoming activities. (See below)

Last Week In Review

• On the Fourth of July, Red Cross featured three volunteers’ reflections on their service and traditions.
• To celebrate the release of Hamilton on DisneyPlus, the Red Cross in Greater New York reposted our 2018 Hamilton Parody to promote fire safety. 
• New York State Senator John Brooks and Long Island CEO Neela M. Lockel co-hosted our virtual Emergency Preparedness program. 
• Last Tuesday, the Times Union featured photos of Gary Striar, Regional CEO of the Red Cross of Eastern New York, who was honored by staff and community members during a retirement parade. 
• Senator Anna Kaplan co-hosted a special emergency preparedness presentation for her constituents. 
• CNN Reporter Brooke Baldwin shared her story on how she donated convalescent plasma at a Red Cross site after she recovered from the coronavirus. 
• Red Cross Scientific Advisory Board Member Dr. William D. Ramos shared water safety tips in People Magazine. 

Upcoming Events and Activities

• We are actively recruiting for the following volunteer positions: Blood Donor Screener, Disaster Spiritual Care Team Member, Disability Integration Program Team Member. Apply today at www.redcross.org/volunteer! For more information, please contact recruitmentgny@redcross.org.
• To find a blood drive near you click here.  
• July 8, 15, 22, 29: Pillowcase Project is a virtual online program that teaches children on how to prepare for emergencies. Register for an online session here.  
• July 9, 14, 20, 21, 23, 28: Prepare, Respond, Recover in a free virtual online training about what you and your community can do when natural and man-made disasters strike. Register for an online session here.  
• July 10 at 12:30 p.m.: Join the Red Cross us for a Facebook Live Q&A with Brad Kieserman, our Vice President of Disaster Operations & Logistics, to learn how the Red Cross prepares for hurricanes and how that changes during a pandemic. Submit your questions for Brad in the comments section of this post, and we'll choose a variety of them to ask.