Nearly 170 Red Cross volunteers and staff from Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas spent three and a half days at the 2nd North Star Disaster Institute, held October 16-19 at Camp Ripley near Little Falls, Minnesota. A total of 39 Red Cross courses were offered, and a total of 636 courses were completed by the attendees.
Highlights of the Institute included keynote speaker Mark J. Lindquist of Fargo, an entertainer and motivational speaker, who described his experiences as an AmeriCorps Red Cross volunteer following the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., the Kitchen Training course and the “What’s New?” panel, which reviewed the 2017 organizational plan.
As always, the best part of the Institute was greeting old friends, meeting and making new friends, and learning new skills in courses taught by experienced Red Cross instructors.
Institute leaders included Art McIntyre, Steve Bonine, Mike Hoffman, Cheryl Thompson, Lindsey Lanigan and Carrie Taylor. Many others supported the event.
Stay tuned for more details about the 2016 training institute. Meanwhile, click here to learn more about becoming a Red Cross volunteer and click here to learn more about Red Cross disaster relief services.
Last week, more than 50 Red Cross workers from joined our partners in the Minnesota National Guard and more than 30 other agencies in “Vigilant Vortex”, a large-scale exercise to practice our ability to coordinate response efforts to a string of powerful tornadoes across our region. The Red Cross had significant activity during two days of the 5-day exercise, with shelters opened at Camp Ripley and in Duluth, and Government Operations workers coordinating efforts in Emergency Operations Centers across the state. The Red Cross received compliments on our participation from several partners, including the presentation of a plaque from special guests from the Croatian Armed Forces, who were visiting during the exercise and wanted to express their thanks to the Red Cross for all that we do. Congratulations on a job well done to Terry Sluss and all of the disaster relief workers who helped to make this exercise a success! To learn and see more about the exercise, click here to read a Star Tribune feature story and click here to see the paper’s photo gallery.
Story by Rick Graft, Debra Brooks and Khue Tran, American Red Cross Northern Minnesota Region Disaster Relief Volunteers
A Red Cross logistics truck, or “LIRV”, that responds to disasters. Photo credit: Lynette Nyman/American Red Cross
During recent flooding in Minnesota, Jordan High School was approved as a shelter site in case of human or natural disaster. We want to share the story with you about how the site was selected and about some unplanned and terrific community outreach.
We wanted to show that the Red Cross was there to support the community, so we took the logistics truck rather than a regular car to Jordan High School. We parked the truck outside the main doors of the school. Once there, parents and students saw the Red Cross presence while we were in the high school doing the shelter evaluation work with school officials. At the end of our visit, the principal kindly asked us if we could show her the truck contents.
Shelter supplies carried on a Red Cross logistics truck. Photo credit: Lynette Nyman/American Red Cross
As we walked to the truck, Debra saw some students and parents and invited them to join us. When I opened the back door of the truck, they were impressed with what and how many supplies and kits we carried. This became a teaching moment to affirm our commitment to the community and how the Red Cross handles disaster responses.
One young teenage girl went from worrying about an unknown terrible thing happening in her school to a double-thumbs up because we were ready with disaster supplies. All the students and parents were pleased to help the Red Cross and they appreciated how the Red Cross would help them in return. They were grateful we wanted to help their community, and so this ended up being a public relations success.
Our visit gave us the opportunity to survey the site, to build trust and a partnership, and to learn from the local community of what they were experiencing and anticipating. As we do on all of our survey calls, we spent a little time explaining the bigger picture of how we would set up a shelter and how to use it. The benefit of sharing our story is that the community started to think with us, and came up with creative solutions and additional spaces that we would never think of by just looking at a floor plan.
Red Cross volunteer Rick Graft assessing flood damage in Blakeley Township, MN, June 24, 2014. Photo credit: Lynette Nyman/American Red Cross
The school district superintendent signed the agreement as we completed the opening inspection. The superintendent, principal, and custodian all brainstormed with us to find space and solutions to our anticipated needs, so we set up the expectation that they could be contacted 24/7 during an actual need for opening a shelter.
At the end of the day, we came away with a shelter partner who feels comfortable working with us and can tell others an important part of the Red Cross story. And on a slightly humorous note, we did not have to do this at two in the morning during disaster response!
Click here to learn more about American Red Cross disaster relief.
By Dave Schoeneck/Red Cross Volunteer
As always, the best part of the Institute was greeting old friends, meeting and making new friends, and learning new skills in courses taught by experienced Red Cross instructors.
American Red Cross Minnesota and Dakotas Region 