The American Red Cross National Leadership Awards ceremony will be held this evening at American Red Cross national headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Awards being given at tonight’s Leadership Awards Dinner are the Harriman Award for Distinguished Volunteer Service, the Susan Hassmiller Nursing Award, the Bob Hassmiller Excellence in Disaster Services Award, the Partnership Award, and the International Humanitarian Service Award. Other national awards will be presented at the spring ceremony.
Congratulations to all of the winners for this well-deserved honor!
This year the Harriman Award for Distinguished Volunteer Service, the highest recognition for volunteer service in the American Red Cross, goes to Allan I. Goldberg, MD. Allan’s involvement with the American Red Cross began in 1992 as a site blood captain for his employer. He then became Chair of his employer’s Blood Donor Program, and shortly after joined the Penn-Jersey Blood Region Board of Directors, where he also served as Chair.
In 2005, Allan joined the Board of Governors where he served until 2017, including serving as Chair of the Quality and Regulatory Compliance Subcommittee from 2007-2017. In this leadership role, Allan personally contributed to the continuous improvement of Biomedical Services processes and systems by providing oversight and solutions to improve donor and patient safety, which led to the Amended Consent Decree being vacated in 2015.
After the 2010 earthquake, Allan traveled to Haiti and worked in partnership with the American Red Cross to establish a blood bank in Segou, Mali. He also represented the American Red Cross at International Red Cross and Red Crescent meetings in 2011, 2013 and 2015. Throughout Allan’s 26-year tenure as a Red Cross volunteer, he has dedicated himself to ensuring the American public has access to a safe and adequate blood supply. His humanitarian service, selfless giving, and dedication to donor and patient safety leave a legacy that will have a lasting impact on the American Red Cross for decades to come.
The 2018 Susan Hassmiller Nursing Award goes to the American Red Cross of Dayton Area Ohio, which will use the proceeds to develop an online and board game called 24 Hours in a Red Cross Shelter. This game aims to increase student nurse volunteer understanding of sheltering operations, build on existing sheltering courses, and serve as a volunteer nurse recruitment and training resource.
24 Hours in a Red Cross Shelter will be a simulation experience for student nurse volunteers to understand processes and resources for managing a high volume of people needing care and assistance, including planning and prioritizing care for shelter residents with disabilities. The game will be developed in partnership with faculty at Wright State University College of Nursing and Health who will donate time to develop the game, train game leaders, coordinate campus-wide events, and facilitate the gaming experience for students. 24 Hours in a Red Cross Shelter is designed to be easily shared with other Red Cross units.
The Bob Hassmiller Excellence in Disaster Services Award goes to Kevin McCoy of Lakeway, Texas. Kevin has been volunteering with the American Red Cross at the chapter, regional, and national levels for 11 years beginning as a Disaster Services Technology (DST) Volunteer for the American Red Cross serving Central Texas in 2007.
He quickly took on additional roles including DST Regional Program Lead and DST Amateur Radio License Operator. In his role as a DST Amateur Radio Operator, Kevin reached out to the amateur radio community and recruited amateur radio operators to the DST team to help improve communications coverage in central Texas, which has large, open spaces with minimal cell phone coverage.
This has helped to ensure that each chapter within the region has a working amateur radio station with local and long-distance capability and that shelters and other remotely-located facilities have multiple methods of communication during a disaster. As DST Regional Program Lead, Kevin led a tremendous effort during the 2017 Hurricane Harvey response by conducting site surveys for command centers and rapidly installing the critical technology resources required for communications across multiple headquarters locations for the disaster relief operation.
In addition to his formal role, Kevin took on additional responsibilities in onboarding 4,000 event-based volunteers in Austin and putting volunteers who were unable to travel to coastal locations to work filling unmet needs in Austin. In addition to the 11 key volunteer positions he holds in the Central & South Texas Region, Kevin has volunteered for 20 regional and national disaster relief operations. Over the years, Kevin has become known for his dedication to volunteer safety, developing practical solutions to problems, and bringing out the best in those around him.
The 2018 Partnership Award is being presented to Walmart and the Walmart Foundation, vital and innovative partners to the American Red Cross for more than a decade. During the responses to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, Walmart quickly activated a customer donation program, which raised more than $5 million in just over 24-hours.
Walmart customers, associates, and the Walmart Foundation ultimately donated more than $60 million to relief efforts. In addition to its financial donations, Walmart partnered with the Red Cross to distribute financial assistance as part of the Hurricane Harvey Immediate Assistance program, helping to put more than $100 million of Red Cross funds directly into the hands of the people who needed it most. Walmart also supplied the Dallas and Houston mega-shelters with Walmart pop-up stores providing shelter residents with free clothing, hygiene products, baby food, diapers, wipes, strollers and much more.
In response to Hurricane Florence earlier this year, Walmart again activated a customer donation program, giving $4 million to the American Red Cross to help those affected by the storm and quickly donated $1 million after Hurricane Michael made landfall in the southeastern U.S. just a couple of weeks ago. Walmart and the Walmart Foundation partner with the Red Cross in other areas by training nurse assistants, sponsoring Reconnection Workshops for members of the military and their families, supporting the installation of more than 50,000 smoke alarms, preparing Gulf Coast businesses and citizens for disaster, training Red Cross logisticians, providing social media expertise, and investing in RC View, the Red Cross geospatial mapping system that has resulted in faster, more efficient disaster responses.
The International Humanitarian Service Award will be presented to the Mexican Red Cross for exemplifying the humanitarian values and principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The Mexican Red Cross has been a longstanding and valued partner of the American Red Cross, participating in annual leadership meetings and helping to launch the North American Humanitarian Response Summit, which represents a unique effort to improve the effectiveness of cross-border response to a potential catastrophic disaster in North America.
In addition, the Mexican Red Cross regularly sends trained staff to assist during disaster response operations in the United States including Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the California Wildfires of 2007, Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008, Hurricane Isaac and Superstorm Sandy in 2012, and flooding in Texas in 2015. In 2017, the Mexican Red Cross was tireless in its support of communities affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, dispatching volunteers to help meet the needs of Spanish-speaking communities. When two devastating earthquakes struck Mexico City, volunteers from the Mexican Red Cross remained in the United States to continue their Hurricane response mission, even as their colleagues at home were mobilizing an emergency response across multiple areas within Mexico.
Throughout these disasters, the Mexican Red Cross and its volunteers embodied the principles of humanity, impartiality, unity, and voluntary service.
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