Target's Bullseye Give Campaign Wraps Up

We are excited to announce that thanks to you, the American Red Cross won 26 percent of the votes in Target’s Bullseye Gives Facebook campaign! We asked for your daily votes during the campaign and you delivered - you, your friends, and our fellow Red Crossers voted more than 75,000 times, earning the American Red Cross a share of $793,942. This was a real team effort, and it was great to see us all come together to support the Red Cross.

The money you helped raise will be used to change lives around the country and around the world. Did you know that every 24 hours all Red Crosses come together to provide the following services?

• Red Cross volunteers help 200 families who lost everything in a house fire or other disaster
• The Red Cross connects deployed service members with their families 475 times
• 19,000 people outside the United States receive urgent care from the Red Cross following a disaster
• 21,000 people receive a blood transfusion from a Red Cross donor
• 43,000 people receive life-saving Red Cross health, safety and preparedness training
• 290,000 children receive a measles vaccination from the Red Cross and its partners

You’re making an incredible impact in the world every day in your work, and your votes during this campaign will help us to continue changing lives. Thank you!

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On This Day

On this day in 1881, the American Red Cross was founded by Clara Barton, a school teacher who had moved to Washington at the outbreak of the Civil War. Clara Barton distributed relief supplies to wounded soldiers and, at the request of President Lincoln, aided in searching for missing men. Clara Barton helped in hospitals in Cuba during the Spanish-American War and in Europe during the Franco-German war. It was there that she worked alongside Henri Dunant, founder of the International Red Cross. The rest, as they say, is history!

PS. Don’t forget to vote for the Red Cross at www.facebook.com/target. We’ve dropped to 2nd place so we have some ground to make up!

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Donate via Instant Message or Email

For a third year, the Red Cross is participating in the i'm Initiative, a program that allows people to support our disaster relief efforts through Windows LiveTM Messenger and Hotmail. By selecting the Red Cross as your charity of choice, Microsoft will make a donation to the Disaster Relief Fund with every instant message conversation and Hotmail message you have using i'm. There’s no limit on the amount donated, but there is a guaranteed minimum donation of $100,000. There is no fee for joining or using Windows Live Messenger, and signing up is quick and easy. Visit http://im.live.com to join.

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We need your help!

From May 10 until May 25, Target is allowing its Facebook “friends” and store guests to choose which of 10 national charities and causes, including the American Red Cross, should receive a portion of $3 million in charitable giving from Target.

We want you to help us round up every Red Cross worker and volunteer, every friend and family member, every donor and every possible supporter to go to Target’s Bullsesye Gives page on Facebook and vote Red Cross. The bottom line is that all votes translate into dollars for our programs, so call your supporters and tell them, “Your Vote = Your Gift.” Remind them that visitors can vote once per day, every day, throughout the length of the contest. This contest has amazing potential to attract a new audience for us. You can vote for the Red Cross every day through May 25. As an additional bonus, Target will also use the contest to help to connect voters with volunteer opportunities in their local communities. The winners will be announced on May 26, and all funds donated to the Red Cross will be used to support our lifesaving programs.

Please join us in spreading the word about this terrific contest. It’s a wonderful opportunity for all of us – every chapter, every Blood Services region, every line of business – to come together as one Red Cross to promote our services to people in urgent need around the corner, around the country and around the world.

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World Red Cross Red Crescent Day Showcases Sister Societies Working Together

Today, the American Red Cross-Dallas Area Chapter joins more than 700 American Red Cross chapters throughout the United States and 185 other Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies around the world to celebrate World Red Cross Red Crescent Day.

World Red Cross Red Crescent Day honors Henry Dunant who founded the International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement nearly 150 years ago. This year’s observance theme is, “Sister Societies Working Together,” which pays tribute to Dunant’s vision and highlights the partnership between the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies to protect the lives and dignity of people everywhere.

Each year armed conflicts and disasters leave millions of people around the world in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Through our Restoring Family Links program, we are able to address some of the lesser-known outcomes of traumatic events, including separation and lack of knowledge. This program allows families separated by these types of crises share urgent news through written messages, email and telephone.

The Red Cross coordinates the efforts of local chapters, like the Dallas Area Chapter, and Red Cross and Red Crescent societies abroad to help, most often, immigrants or refugees living in the United States learn the well-being of and convey personal messages to loved ones they left behind. In many cases, these communication services are the only hope of reaching family in remote refugee camps and hostile war zones. Last year, the Red Cross helped exchange messages and conduct related tracing between more than 9,400 people separated by crisis in countries, such as Sudan, Somalia, Burundi, Iraq and the former Yugoslavia as well as on behalf of Holocaust survivors.

Additional information about how to access and support the Restoring Family Links program, including the Holocaust and War Victims Tracing Center, is available online.

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Swine Flu Update

With increasing news coverage of the H1N1 (Swine Flu) outbreak, we want to update you on the response of the American Red Cross. We are monitoring the developing situation and are following the lead of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Homeland Security and local public health officials.

Our priority right now is to maintain the blood supply, educate the public about ways to stay healthy and continue to provide vital disaster relief services.

At this time we encourage families, businesses and organizations to review and update their preparedness plans. Stocking extra food, water and supplies at home will reduce the need to go out should this swine flu strain become more widespread and schools or businesses temporarily close. The Red Cross recommends storing a two-week supply of food, water and household necessities such as laundry detergent and toilet paper. A gallon of water per person per day should be stored in clean plastic containers. Family preparation steps should also include storing formula for infants, food for special nutritional needs, essential medicines and medical items, and extra food for pets.

In addition, it is important for people to follow basic public health practices such as:

• cover your cough
• sneeze into a tissue
• frequent hand-washing
• visit a doctor for flu-like symptoms
• stay home when sick
• more flu precautions

Your American Red Cross will continue to work with government officials on the H1N1 (Swine Flu) issue. Please be assured that we stand ready to help as appropriate.

If you would like additional information about the efforts of the American Red Cross-Dallas Area Chapter, you can visit our Web site. If you would like additional information about H1N1 (Swine Flu) visit the CDC Web site or call 1-800-CDC-INFO.

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2009 Chapter Award Nominations

It’s Time To Make Your Chapter Nominations! Nominations will be accepted through May 1, 2009. Awards will be presented at the Recognition Celebration in June.

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Tweet with Wolverine!

Do you tweet? Hugh Jackman will donate $100,000 to one individual's favorite non profit organization. To win the contest you must convince him why using Twitter is beneficial. We encourage you to send a tweet to the RealHughJackman telling him why you think the Red Cross deserves his donation. Be creative!

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Red Cross responds to Richland Chambers Lake

NAVARRO COUNTY - The Dallas Area Chapter of the American Red Cross responded to Richland Chambers Lake to provide drinks and snacks for emergency service personnel and others after a 72-year-old man and his 17-year-old grandson went missing Monday afternoon.

The men were fishing when they called their family to say they were on their way in around 3:00p. They did not make it, and their boat has since been found without any trace of the pair. The Red Cross continues to comfort those involved in the search and rescue efforts.

The Dallas Area Chapter of the American Red Cross responds to disasters as they occur. To learn more about how you can get involved, click here.

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Parrot gets Red Cross award for helping save a life

Courtesy of CBS 4 Denver via AP

DENVER - A parrot whose cries of alarm alerted his owner when a little girl choked on her breakfast has been honored as a hero.

Willie, a Quaker parrot, has been given the local Red Cross chapter's Animal Lifesaver Award.

In November, Willie's owner, Megan Howard, was baby-sitting for a toddler. Howard left the room and the little girl, Hannah, started to choke on her breakfast.

Willie repeatedly yelled "Mama, baby" and flapped his wings, and Howard returned in time to find the girl already turning blue.

Howard saved Hannah by performing the Heimlich maneuver but said Willie "is the real hero."

"The part where she turned blue is always when my heart drops no matter how many times I've heard it," Hannah's mother, Samantha Kuusk, told KCNC-TV. "My heart drops in my stomach and I get all teary eyed."

Willie got his award during a "Breakfast of Champions" event Friday attended by Gov. Bill Ritter and Mayor John Hickenlooper.

To learn more about AED, CPR & First Aid classes in the Dallas area, click here.

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Women's History Month

This March, as we celebrate Red Cross Month, we also celebrate Women's History Month and recognize the exceptional women leaders who blazed new paths and built brighter futures for us all. And, who would be more fitting to honor than our inspirational founder, Clara Barton?
Clarissa Harlowe Barton -- Clara, as she wished to be called -- is one of the most honored women in American history for being a true pioneer as well as an outstanding humanitarian. As pioneer, she began teaching school at a time when most teachers were men. She was among the first women to gain employment in the federal government. As a pioneer and humanitarian, she risked her life when she was nearly 40 years old to bring supplies and support to soldiers in the field during the Civil War.

Then, at age 60, she founded the American Red Cross in 1881 and led it for the next 23 years during which time it conducted its first domestic and overseas disaster relief efforts, aided the United States military during the Spanish-American War, and campaigned successfully for the inclusion of peacetime relief work as part of the International Red Cross Movement. Barton first heard of the Swiss-inspired International Red Cross Movement while visiting Europe following the Civil War. Returning home, she campaigned for an American Red Cross society and for ratification of the Geneva Convention protecting the war-injured, which the United States ratified in 1882.

Her understanding of the needs of people in distress and the ways in which she could provide help to them guided her throughout her life. By the force of her personal example, she opened paths to the new field of volunteer service. Her intense devotion to the aim of serving others resulted in enough achievements to fill several ordinary lifetimes.

Today, Clara Barton's passion, perseverance, and humanitarian spirit are embodied in the work carried out by the American Red Cross. In March, we not only celebrate her life and her commitment to others as an exceptional woman leader, but recognize the organization she built.

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Changing Lives

Recently, I accepted a request to assist the American Red Cross - Dallas Area Chapter with producing and editing a video segment that focuses on disasters in the Dallas area and how the support of individuals and businesses alike further our mission. I immediately knew who I wanted to do the voice-over work; she is a co-worker at Baylor Health Care System.

When I presented Shingi Chando with the request, she was quick to accept. We spent a little more than one hour recording the script. However, it was not until she saw the finished product that she truly understood what she was doing. When she saw the segment for the very first time, she immediately took in a deep breath, covered her mouth with her hand, and stood quietly as the video played. At the end, she said "I had no idea these things actually happen in our area." It was at that moment that Shingi's life was changed, and now she is part of our cause.

Since then, I have invited Shingi to visit the Dallas Area Chapter of the American Red Cross, and then consider volunteering in Disaster Health Services. Changing lives does not only happen during times of disaster relief operations, and recruiting volunteers to the American Red Cross does not only happen at the Chapter.

What is your American Red Cross story? We want to know. Simply email your story to smedia@redcrossdallas.org today!

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Become a Movie Extra!

SCOMPA (Southwest Community of Motion Picture Artists) still needs EXTRAS for the project Red Cross Disaster Movie!
March 18, 2009

In addition to the many Extras still needed, we also are looking for a child, (boy or girl) around 8 years old, who has blond hair, as a featured extra!

The days we need Extras are...
Saturday, MARCH 21st (If you are going to be an Extra on THIS day, we need you to be an Extra on the next date...)
Sunday, MARCH 22nd
and
Sunday, APRIL 5th

All Extras for each day will need to be AVAILABLE from 7am-7pm. That doesn't necessarily mean you will be there the whole time, we just need you to be available.

If you are interested in being an extra, PLEASE email Jakin Vela, Casting Director, at scompafilmgroup@live.com with the subject line, "EXTRA".

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Come be an EXTRA in our film!

The week of February 23rd, the American Red Cross - Dallas Area Chapter held auditions for parts in the upcoming Chapter video.

It's not too late for you to join in the fun! Come be an EXTRA in our film! Taping will happen on March 21 and 22, and then again on April 4 and 5.

Send an email to scompafilmgroup@live.com to inquire about being an extra.

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