Frantz Germain: One man’s story of how he helped Haiti Victims

Frantz Germain is a Red Cross Volunteer who helped in the Homestead Air Reserve Base after the earthquake in Haiti. He assisted with translating and comforting victims of the quake. Footage and editing was done by Liliana Oyarzun, American Red Cross intern. For more information on the American Red Cross or volunteering, please visit www.southfloridaredcross.org to learn more.

Are you all DAT?

While Jeanmarie, Disaster Action Team (DAT) member extraordinaire, and I were out distributing preparedness brochures to the community, we happened upon several fire trucks at an apartment complex in Key West.

We stopped and offered Red Cross assistance, but a firefighter reported it was a minor fire. We weren’t back in the office but 5 minutes when the complex manager called and asked us to come back because of water damage in several apartments.

On-site damage assessment revealed little physical damage, but the emotional toll was evident. One resident, a woman who is 9 months pregnant, was taken to the hospital. Everyone was very grateful to see the Red Cross would be there for them, if the damage was worse.

Do you want to be all DAT, like Jeanmarie? Join today by CLICKING HERE, and saying I want to be there for those in need!  I want to be all DAT!

An Open Letter to Tropical Storm Bonnie

Oh, Bonnie. What happened? You came and you went. Honestly we expected you to stick around for a while and do what you do best. Blow some hot air, flood our streets, create some havoc. But, girl, you fizzled out!

Regardless, thank you so much for stopping by. My lawn appreciated the rain. But I have to tell you that I’m glad things didn’t work out the way you wanted. Nevertheless we were ready. I don’t know if you know, Bonnie, but we had hundreds of Red Cross volunteers on standby, our partners were ready to go and shelters were prepared to open if needed.

Even though you didn’t pack much punch, I hope the community took the opportunity to get their disaster kits together and go over their family plans.

So the next time you or one of your friends decides to pay a visit to South Florida, just know that we’ll be waiting.

Elvire’s story on volunteering for Earthquake victims

Elvire Simonvil is a Red Cross Volunteer who helped on the USNS Comfort after the earthquake in Haiti. She assisted on the hospital ship to translate and comfort victims of the quake. Footage and editing was done by Liliana Oyarzun, American Red Cross intern. For more information on the American Red Cross or volunteering, please visit www.southfloridaredcross.org to learn more.

Georges’ Story on Volunteering After the Earthquake in Haiti

Georges Wilfrid McNally is a Red Cross Volunteer who helped on the USNS Comfort after the earthquake in Haiti. He assisted on the hospital ship to translate and comfort victims of the quake. Footage and editing was done by Liliana Oyarzun, American Red Cross intern. For more information on the American Red Cross or volunteering, please visit www.southfloridaredcross.org to learn more.

From Peace Negotiations to Search and Rescue

Mediating the guerillas in Colombia to search and rescue in Haiti, Luis Riera, 47, has done it all.

Search and Rescue Team

Volunteering for the American Red Cross since the age of 17, Riera is now an international delegate for the Spanish delegation of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the world’s largest humanitarian organization. He is also on the medical and search and rescue team and is usually the first responder on site.

Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Riera has lived in Miami, Chicago, Spain and after volunteering for the Red Cross for 30 years has been in 27 countries. When he is not volunteering across the world, he volunteers at a free clinic every Friday and cycles to stay in shape.

“I went from being a cub scout to a boy scout to youth red cross,” Riera said. “It was just the way that we did it in my country. I’ve been training for this ever since I was little, it was just a natural progression.”

Riera has volunteered locally helping the American Red Cross of South Florida Region with the Haiti relief providing medical response and assistance in any way possible. In the wake of the earthquake hundreds of victims were arriving in Miami and needed all the help they could get.

“I was one of three people in the repatriation center at Miami International Airport for the first three days,” said Riera. “I didn’t sleep, I just stayed at the center for the first 72 hours. After the first three days, I worked two 12-hour shifts per week.

“They just needed someone to talk to. They still had it in their minds that they had lost their families. There were these two brothers that had lost their whole family in Haiti, but we were luckily able to find some of their lost family here in Miami.”

Beyond the local volunteer work, Riera has worked in several hostile territories like Iraq and Colombia. Life as a volunteer is very different from volunteering locally.

“Here you know that it’s safe, but dealing with guerillas in Colombia, one day you can be doing peace negotiations and in the next ten minutes, you could be running for your life,” said Riera.

Volunteering abroad and being an international delegate for the International Federation of Red Cross requires extensive training beginning with a certification in first-aid and all sub-specialties including paramedics, warfare paramedics and search and rescue.

“My training makes you expect the unexpected and prepare for the worse. I am the only person in Miami trained in high-altitude search and rescue,” Riera joked.

If you are interested in volunteering locally or internationally, do your research Riera recommends. Volunteering abroad for the International Federation is much more difficult. For more information on volunteering international, please visit the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies website and for information on your local chapter visit the American Red Cross of South Florida Region.

“Volunteering is something that you do not because you get paid, but because you get paid in smiles and hugs,” said Riera. “After that you’ll stay.”

Liliana Oyarzun, American Red Cross Intern

It’s been 6 months

It has been six months since the earthquake in Haiti and the American Red Cross has been hard at work providing:

• Emergency shelter materials for 625,000 people
• Cash grants and microloans to nearly 210,000 people
• Water for 280,000 people each day
• Food for 1.3 million people for one month
• Disaster preparedness activities to protect 500,000 people
• Medical care and/or health education for 435,000 people
• Semi-permenant shelters to house 165,000 people
• Latrines for 238,000 people
• Emergency supplies for 125,000 people for use during hurricane season

Read more about the efforts by the American Red Cross reading our six month update.

Volunteer Recognition

Our Volunteer Recognition Ceremony was this past weekend and it was amazing! We had a great turnout and it was truly a spectacular feeling to give back to some of the volunteers that help us out every day! Check out the volunteers honored at the ceremony below or go to our Facebook page to check out more photos from the event:

Volunteers honored at Ceremony

If you are interested in becoming an American Red Cross Volunteer, check out our website and apply today!

Services to the Armed Forces and Beyond

For those that simply work one job from nine to five and keep finding excuses not to volunteer, one woman kicks every excuse out the window. Working and being a volunteer at the American Red Cross is no small feat for Theresa Iuzzolino.

Iuzzolino started volunteering in August 2009 writing news releases, but she decided to move beyond her comfort zone and gain experience in fundraising, events and finally staying involved in the BRAIVE Fund and Services to the Armed Forces.

The BRAIVE Fund provides financial support to service men and women that need help in instances like vehicle repairs, basic utilities and security deposits for rent. Services to the Armed Forces in the American Red Cross is uniquely equipped to provide exclusive worldwide communication and a link between active and retired service members and their families.

“I didn’t understand the big picture, but it woke me up to a whole other world seeing and appreciating what service men and women do for us,” said Iuzzolino.

On a trip to a West Palm Beach veteran hospital, Iuzzolino met with patients and administration to better understand the services provided to veterans who were injured on the battlefield or who still suffer from the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

“They are scared to be back in civilian life, trapped in a warped time,” said Iuzzolino. “They are intelligent men, but they are so stressed and so on the edge.

“It woke me up. I could not even imagine or understand what they went through.”

Iuzzolino works on her own independent concierge service for event planning and public relation services, while volunteering more than 40 hours at the American Red Cross during the week.

Volunteering at the American Red Cross came naturally for Iuzzolino after she moved to Miami from New York.

The American Red Cross responded immediately after the airplanes hit the towers on September 11. The Red Cross helped survivors return to their normal life after 9/11 and provided services including health and mental health support, spiritual care and information about the Family Gift Program.

“I was going to volunteer after 9/11,” Iuzzolino said. “The American Red Cross was very active and I held that very close to my heart.”

Liliana Oyarzun, American Red Cross Intern

There is more than one side to volunteering

Usually, it’s rare to see what happens behind the scenes of a disaster response. At the American Red Cross, volunteers can work in the field setting up shelters or in the office training volunteers to help our community during a disaster.

After moving to Miami from Argentina, Sylvia Taylor, 46, has been volunteering for the American Red Cross for the past two years.

Taylor has worked with several departments within the Red Cross, from fundraising to grant writing and most recently with Volunteer Development, which she has found the most rewarding.

Some of the responsibilities that Taylor holds as a volunteer at the Red Cross are: organizing volunteer training, acting as liaison between volunteers and trainers and finding ways to improve training sessions.

After the Haiti earthquake of 2010, Taylor took on two additional duties, she handled the training for over 600 volunteers and helping to recruit volunteer translators who could help doctors communicate with their patients aboard a hospital ship, the USNS Comfort.

“There was an amazing response,” Taylor said. “People just came out and wanted to help. It was very exciting to see this interest.

“During one training session the director of emergency services came to the classroom and asked for some volunteers to help comfort 80 orphans who survived the earthquake and were landing shortly,” she added.

“Everyone wanted to help. There were these two men in the room that stayed all night changing diapers and helping with everything they could, men with no kids, who have never done this before.”

Along with training, Taylor assisted with recruiting volunteers with specific skills to work on the USNS Comfort, anchored right off the port in Haiti.

These volunteers needed to speak Creole, live aboard the ship and stay there for at least a month.

“It was very moving interacting with these volunteers,” Taylor said. “They had such a sense of service.”

Taylor met with some amazing brave volunteers. Volunteers that had been living in Haiti during the earthquake, lost everything they owned, including loved ones, arrived in Miami and wanted to turn around and help.

“People wanted to give so much,” Taylor said. “They wanted to know what they could do and how they could help. They were so thankful for the opportunity that the Red Cross gave them to help.”

Liliana Oyarzun, American Red Cross Intern