Red Cross Southeast Louisiana NPRC (AmeriCorps) Blog

Erin: Follow us on Twitter! @arc_nola_NPRC

redcrossselanprc — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:03:45 +0000

To all of our beloved and dedicated readers out there who just can’t get enough of us, you can now follow us on Twitter! Follow: @arc_nola_NPRC

Filed under: 2011-2012 NPRC Team, Erin

Erin: Thank You, Salvation Army!

redcrossselanprc — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:12:52 +0000

Dan and I served hot meals out of the Salvation Army truck!

About two weeks ago, Jane and I were called out to canteen at a three-alarm fire in Jean Lafitte. After the fire had been blazing for nearly five hours and there was still no end in sight, we decided that while our snacks and beverages were a great asset to the firefighters, it would be a good idea to call in reinforcements. We made a couple of quick phone calls and within about an hour and a half (keep in mind the fire was half an hour outside of New Orleans), the Salvation Army truck pulled up with coffee and freshly prepared hot meals ready to go for the first responders. The meals were a huge pick-me-up for the firefighters and gave them the energy they needed to keep working through the evening. Just two days later, we had a canvassing event in Kenner and once again, the Salvation Army came out and generously provided lunch for all of our volunteers.

On both occasions, I had the pleasure of working and speaking with Dan, a member of the Salvation Army, who told me all about the organization and shared some of his experiences with me. It was great to learn more about the Army and I hope to work with them again in the future! A big thanks goes out to Dan and the rest of the SA for their service!

Volunteers enjoyed a hot lunch compliments of the Salvation Army at our MLK Day canvassing event in Kenner.

Filed under: 2011-2012 NPRC Team, Erin, Fire Response

Aimee: My First Blog!

redcrossselanprc — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:43:04 +0000

Almost five months later I am finally sharing my first Disaster Relief Operation (DR) experience for Hurricane Irene with the blogosphere. Jane Bowler and I drove an ERV to North Carolina where we stayed in a shelter in Roanoke Rapids before we were stationed to a Southern Baptist Kitchen in Williamston, NC. We served two meals a day out of Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) to roughly 300-500 people in Creswell, NC and Jamesville, NC. It’s very hard to put into words my experience. I met a lot of wonderful, kindhearted people, who have forever changed my life. The caring Ms. Beverly who fed everyone in the shelter at Roanoke Rapids and stayed long hours making sure everyone had something to eat. Sister Kieran opened up her church in Williamston, NC and allowed the ERV crew (12 people) a place to sleep and shower, along with her wonderful congregation making us delicious meals. The fire departments at Jamesville and Creswell set up well organized feeding stations, making it easy for those without electricity to have access to a hot meal. Teams from these fire departments went around their town, alerting their citizens when the Red Cross was coming so they knew when they could receive something to eat. Creswell Fire Department was gracious enough to allow Jane and me to help deliver meals to flooded areas. We were able to see first hand the wrath of Irene with homes, roads, and churches under water. My first DR was also memorable because I had the most amazing partner, Jane Bowler.(Jane underlined that part) We were the youngest ERV drivers that, at times, were questioned because of our youth, BUT we proved time and time again that we were ready to take whatever came at us. I’m so proud of the work we accomplished and the help we were able to provide. Below are some of the memories I, Jane, and American Red Cross PR captured, so check ‘em out!

Filed under: Aimee

Rakesh: Service to Others

redcrossselanprc — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:09:23 +0000

It’s almost been five months since we’ve been here and I think about all that we have accomplished since beginning our journey. We’ve completed numerous service projects and volunteered at numerous community events in and around New Orleans. Out of all the service we give to this town, our biggest service to the community is responding to fires. We respond to all types of fires in the New Orleans area by providing temporary disaster assistance to victims of house fires and those who are temporarily displaced from their homes as a result of a fire. On large scale fires, we also assist firefighters and first responders by providing water, snacks, and Gatorade, and hot chocolate and coffee in the winter. I’ve responded to 25 fires so far. House fires are tragic and devastating times for families, so it’s important to have good customer service skills. It’s crucial to let fire victims know that while the Red Cross is unable to replace everything that is lost in a fire, you are there to provide them with temporary assistance as best as you can given the situation at hand. Good customer service requires taking the time to thoroughly explain all the policies and procedures involved with the assistance you are providing to a client as well as other resources available if clients need assistance beyond what the Red Cross is capable of providing. Always take the time to address any questions or concerns people have when you are assisting them. If you are taking a chapter vehicle to a fire, make sure you are familiar with chapter rules and regulations regarding vehicle usage. Drive safely and remember that any speeding/traffic tickets received while driving a chapter vehicle will be your responsibility.

Filed under: Rakesh

Angel: Holiday Mail For Heroes Delivery

redcrossselanprc — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:56:41 +0000

The Holiday Mail for Heroes project is a very touching part of the American Red Cross. Chapters throughout the country and abroad hand-make holiday cards wishing veterans a warm holiday season and thanking them for their service- especially at this time of the year. We were lucky enough to be involved in this project from beginning to end. Throughout the past few months we have held events, collected materials, and gotten our chapter and the community extremely involved in making cards to send to Pitney Bowes and be distributed around the world. I made the video above after our visit to the Southeast Louisiana War Veterans Home on December 22, 2011. The veterans and family shown in this video were just a few of the hundreds of veterans who received cards in Southeast Louisiana(we also delivered to the Disabled American Veterans and multiple outpatient facilities for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ). Being able to thank so many veterans during the holiday season with messages from home was an experience that I am proud and so happy to have had.

Filed under: Angel

Angel: Project Safe Escape Canvassing Event

redcrossselanprc — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:51:10 +0000

Over 600 homes in Hammond, LA received information about Project Safe Escape and fire safety preparedness information on December 1, 2011. A team compiled of volunteers, students from Southeast Louisiana University Red Cross Club, and staff of the American Red Cross were responsible for distributing the materials.

Filed under: Angel

Erin: Reading the Fine Print

redcrossselanprc — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 20:45:44 +0000

Is it really December already? This year is flying by and I can’t believe we’ve been here nearly 4 months now. A little advice to future NPRC members: take the time to read the NPRC handbook and ask to see the AmeriCorps application/grant proposal that the Chapter had to submit. When we first received the handbook, we all brushed it off as the typical rules, regulations, and code of conduct that you would expect – and a lot of it is exactly that – but several issues have come up over the past couple of weeks that could have been much more quickly resolved had any of us bothered to actually read through the handbook. It is also important to take a look at the AmeriCorps application the Chapter submitted. They’re not going to hand it to you, but if you ask your supervisor for it, they will happily oblige. It’s a really great way to see not only what is expected of you during your service term, but also to see what you should expect from the Chapter. Bottom line: Take the time to read the fine print, get familiar with your handbook and the AmeriCorps program itself, and definitely don’t be afraid to ask questions. It’s to your benefit and it will save you a lot of hassle in the long run.

Filed under: 2011-2012 NPRC Team, Erin

Erin: Take the Time to be Thankful This Holiday Season

redcrossselanprc — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 20:00:39 +0000

With Thanksgiving just days away, it only seems right to take a few moments to reflect on the upcoming holiday season. To be honest, I don’t particularly care for holidays. Birthdays, Christmas, New Year’s, Halloween – you name it – they’re just not really my thing. Nonetheless, I do my best to make them as enjoyable as possible. This will be my second Thanksgiving away from home (the first was a couple of years ago… I was on a mission trip in Mexico). Some friends and I are having a potluck dinner at my apartment and I’m in charge of the turkey. I’ve never cooked a whole turkey before and I’m a little nervous, but I bought a 15 pound bird last night so we’ll see how it goes. Anyways, one thing I do like about the holidays is that they’re a good reminder to be thankful for all of life’s blessings. Over the past several months, I’ve been called out to numerous fires in which the clients have lost everything. Some of those items are replaceable – appliances, furniture, etc. – but some of those things can never quite be replaced – old photo albums, a quilt grandma made, and even family pets. After responding to a handful of fires, it can start to feel routine and become very easy to forget how terrible fires really are. When that happens, hearing a client talk about escaping from their burning home, getting a huge hug and thank you from a client for assistance that is nowhere near what it will take to help them get their life back together, or walking through a home to do a damage assessment and seeing picture frames and other irreplaceable items broken and burnt on the floor will snap you right back to the harsh reality of a fire. Yesterday I responded to one of the worst fires I’ve seen to date. The entire house (including both of the cars in the garage) were completely destroyed. The clients lost two cats in the fire on top of losing nearly all of their possessions. I couldn’t help but to think about what this Thanksgiving will be like for them knowing that they’ve just lost their home.

This holiday season, and especially on Thanksgiving, take the time to be thankful for even the simplest of things in life. Remember that while you are enjoying your holiday meal, someone somewhere is watching their house go up in flames because of a kitchen fire, and that thousands of people out there don’t even have a home, let alone a kitchen, to watch go up in flames. Take the time to thank the people that put a smile on your face, make you laugh every day, and offer you comfort when you need it. Take the time to appreciate the delicious food in front of you, the beautiful fall weather, and that turkey-induced coma that creeps up on you after a big Thanksgiving meal. Be thankful, be humble, and most importantly: please practice fire safety! Happy Thanksgiving!

Filed under: 2011-2012 NPRC Team, Erin

Jane: Williamston, NC. Hurricane Irene Disaster Relief

redcrossselanprc — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 21:53:12 +0000

We had only been working for the South East Louisiana Chapter of the American Red Cross for a little over two weeks when we were called to the test to respond to Hurricane Irene. Aimee Mankins and I drove an ERV (emergency response vehicle) to North Carolina. This video is a short clip of the kitchen we worked out of in Williamston, NC. Our kitchen manager Craig Jeske along with other outstanding volunteers that we were honored to work with are also included in this video. We miss y’all!

Filed under: Disaster Response

Erin: Cypress Marsh Restoration Service Day and the Worst Week in Penn State History

redcrossselanprc — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 20:39:41 +0000

For starters, the Cypress Marsh Restoration Service Day was both much better than and much worse than expected. I say it was worse than what I anticipated because we spent the day planting trees in muddy, leech-infested water and I ended up stuck LITERALLY waist-deep in the mud/swamp. (That was an adventure in itself…) I say the service day was better than expected because the weather was perfect, I canoed about 20 feet away from two gators, and I managed to have a good sense of humor about my unintentional mud bath. (When I stepped in the muddy sinkhole I actually stood there and laughed uncontrollably for about 10 minutes before I started crawling my way out). Would I want to do it again? Probably not, but all in all I had a good time and it was an opportunity to try something completely out of the ordinary.

In more serious matters, it has been about two weeks since the child sex abuse scandal broke out at Penn State (my beloved alma mater) and shook the Nittany Lion community to its blue and white core. It has been a very emotional time and I’d be lying to say I haven’t cried or at least gotten choked up over it on almost a daily basis. I tried to write a blog post about it last week, but stopped about halfway through because I found words to be so inadequate to express everything I was feeling. I’m so tempted to address the issue further, but I know starting to write any more about this would be like opening Pandora’s Box and will most likely end in another frustrating, incomplete blog post, so I will leave it at this: I am devastated by the recent unfoldings at Penn State and I grieve for all of the victims. While I do not necessarily agree with the way the Board of Trustees handled everything, I will say that I am still in 100% support of my university. I have unfortunately read many negative statements regarding the Penn State community as “sexual abuse supporters” and even as “pedophiles” and I hope that anyone with these misinformed beliefs takes the time to educate themselves and understand that the actions of a few do not reflect the actions, values, and beliefs of the 45,000 current students or the 570,000 alumni. I am STILL proud to be a Nittany Lion, and I am even more proud of the 10,000 students and community members who came out last Friday night for a candle light vigil for the victims, for the nearly $400,000 we’ve already raised for RAINN (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network), and for the way both our team and our fans conducted themselves at this past weekend’s football game against Nebraska – the first game without Joe Paterno as a coach in 61 years. Nothing can erase the horrific alleged transgressions of Jerry Sandusky, but I sincerely hope that justice will prevail and that all of the victims can progress in the healing process.

An estimated 10,000 Penn State students and members of the community gathered for a candlelight vigil last Friday night.

Filed under: 2011-2012 NPRC Team, Erin