Crossroads

The past few months have been

eventful. Most prominent of all, of

course, was Superstorm Sandy. Eight

Montana Red Cross membersJohn Do-

noghue, Marjorie Donoghue, Norman

Eggert, Bob Heckman, Susan Mattocks,

Lew Savik, Barbara Toenyes, Colleen

Tone, and Jim White--deployed for sever-

al weeks each to help the East Coast on

the road to recovery. In this newsletter,

you can find a link to an article in which

one of our volunteers, Lew Savik, is in-

terviewed about his experiences on the East Coast.

Another significant development for Montana Red Cross was the addition of a full

-time media director to our management team. Anna Fernndez-Gevaert joined us in late

November and was given one mission: to make Montana Red Cross presence known

throughout our state. Raising our public profile in Montana is important for several rea-

sons. First, we want to make sure that our fellow Montanans know that they can turn to

us in their time of need. The Red Cross role during large-scale disasters is widely under-

stood; however, many still dont know that we are active in our own communities every

day. Secondly, we need to make sure that Montanans understand the kind services we

provide, so these can be fully utilized. And thirdlymy personal favorite-- we want to

make sure that our volunteers receive the recognition that they deserve in their own

communities. I look forward to seeing our public profile grow over the months and years

to come.

I also want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the outstanding impact Kevin

Murszewski has had since he took charge of our preparedness program last January.

Within the last six month alone, Kevin and his growing team of volunteers reached no

less than 2409 Montanans with their preparedness trainings. To put this number in per-

spective, in 2008 that number was 67 for the entire year. Kevin is passionate about the

work he does, and it shows. Kudos to Kevin and the entire preparedness team for the

stunning impact they have had so far!

There was also good news on the development side. I am pleased to report that

we were able to capitalize on the groundwork we laid last year to end 2012 with our best

quarterly performance in years. Thanks to a growing number of generous donors who

understand and have committed to our long-term mission, we are building a stronger

financial base to better fund our operations.

Finally, 2012 ended on a sad note for those of us at Montana Red Cross who

knew Denny Dutton. Denny was one of our most valued and beloved volunteers. He will

be missed by all.

With heartfelt appreciation for all you do,

Rod Kopp, CEO

A Quarterly Newsletter from American Red Cross of Montana Winter 2012-13

Montana

Montana Campus Compact (MTCC), a statewide coalition of college and universities,

has been awarded a $75,000 September 11th National Day of Service and Remem-

brance grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service. The grant will

support local projects and trainings, led jointly by MTCC and the American Red Cross of

Montana. It will also pay for volunteer appreciation events and a statewide advanced-

level training institute on 2014.

We will be working with 7 colleges/universities and surrounding communities across

Montana to recruit volunteers, and will then train them almost immediately via on-site

mini-training institutes.

In the first year of the program, we will target the cities of Havre, Great Falls, Butte,

Billings, Kalispell, Dillon, and Helena. These cities were chosen based on where our vol-

unteer needs coincided with a MTCC campus presence.

We are thrilled to have additional funding to support volunteer recruitment and train-

ing. The partnership with MTCC will enable students and community members to help

address pressing needs when disasters strike in Montana.

Thank you donors for your continued financial support!

You give hope and help in local emergencies across Montana. Because of your contin-

ued financial support, Montana Red Cross was able to respond to unprecedented flood-

ing last year and multiple wildfires across our state this past summer.

As 2013 begins, approximately 1,000 Red Cross workers continue to help people af-

fected by Superstorm Sandy by providing food, emotional support and assistance,

almost 3 months after the devastating storm made landfall. Red Cross is there be-

cause of generous and compassionate donors like you who want to help their neigh-

bors in need. Together, Montanans contributed over $96,000 to support Superstorm

Sandy relief efforts.

Please visit www.montanaredcross.org to learn more about our year-round ef-

forts. Youre part of some truly incredible work, and I hope that seeing the impact of

your support drives home what a difference youre making for the people who need it

most.

Show Your Support with Your License Plate

Next time you renew your Montana license plate, show your support for Montana Red

Cross by selecting the design above. The Red Cross receives $20 for each plate sold or

renewed each year!

When you see this license plate on the road, youre seeing a family or individual who

is making a difference in the lives of our Montana neighbors.

The next time your family takes a trip, remember to add a NEW category to the li-

cense plate game. How many Red Cross supporters can YOU find?

March is Red Cross Month

Since 1943, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt first proclaimed March as Red Cross

Month, presidents have been designating March to honor the work of the American

Red Cross. That mission has never been more important. With compassion, collabora-

tion, creativity, credibility and commitment, the Red Cross responds to emergencies

across the country and around the world, offering care, shelter and hope.

A gift of any size supports the mission of the American Red Cross, whether it's re-

sponding to a disaster, collecting lifesaving blood, assisting our military members and

their families, or teaching skills that can save a life.

Please consider a gift today. Visit us at www.montanaredcross.org or send your dona-

tion to:

1300 28th Street South

Great Falls, MT 59405

Volunteer of the Quarter: Edna Mae Duncan

Building Capacity Brick by Brick Colleen Tone

As Red Cross of Montana continues to support Superstorm Sandy relief efforts and re-

spond to emergencies across our state, we are also focusing on building our disaster re-

sponse capacity. Some of our key initiatives include:

Recruiting more Disaster Duty Officers.

Ensuring all volunteers have access to basic level training courses.

Recruiting and training Mental Health & Health Services Volunteers, Govern-

ment & Tribal Liaisons, Public Affairs Staff, Feeding Associates and Emergency

Response Vehicle Drivers.

Updating shelter agreements and surveys.

Developing plan to create large-scale disaster supply caches in four areas of

the state. This quadrant approach will ensure we have the supplies and re-

sources to manage a large-scale event. Our future goal is for the volunteers

located in those quadrants to train and exercise together to ensure greater

cohesion and support.

At Red Cross of Montana, we already have a well-built and motivated volunteer team. We

want to build on these strengths by identifying new goals and strategies to make us even

stronger. If you are interested in supporting any of the above initiatives, please contact

your Disaster Action Team chair.

Disaster Leadership, mark your calendars for our annual Disaster Consortium Meeting

from May 17th-19th. This year it will at Fairmont Hot Springs, so remember to bring your

bathing suits!

Montana Red Cross on Campus Allison Hupp

Serving Those Who Serve Us Kevin Murszewski

Weve been busy in SAF. Since our last newsletter,

we delivered approximately 5000 Holiday Mail for Heroes cards to our mili-

tary members, veterans and family members;

we conducted follow-ups to 79 Emergency Communications;

we attended 4 Yellow Ribbon events, 4 Right Start programs, and many

other military events, and touched the lives of 650 Service Members, Veter-

ans and family members;

we added 2 new caseworkers to our team who are now trained and ready to

help military families during emergencies.

To make sure we can assist everyone who requires our services, we need more

volunteers to sign up as caseworkers. Please call Kevin Murszewski at 406-552-

5902 for more information.

Are You Connected? Jenny Hurst

Volunteer Connection, our new electronic volunteer management system, was launched

in Montana last spring. It is great way for volunteers across the state to stay informed

about whats happening in our chapter, to connect with one another, and to manage

your involvement with Red Cross. Please log in today! If you have any questions or need

assistance with Volunteer Connection, contact Jenny Hurst at jenny.hurst@redcross.org

or 800-272-6668.

Coming this spring, Volunteer Connection will be combining with the Disaster Services

Human Resources (DSHR) system. This will make the DSHR experience more seamless

for volunteers by having all of the information and tools located in one place. More infor-

mation about this exciting new transition will be available soon.

Do you have all of the training courses you need to adequately respond to an emergen-

cy? If not, Red Cross can get you there. No matter where you are at in Montana, we can

ensure that you get the training you need, whether in a classroom setting or via one of

our new online training courses.

Classroom Instruction:

All basic courses are coordinated with your Disaster Action Team Chair and our Training

Coordinator. These courses include:

Disaster Services: An Overview

Client Casework

Damage Assessment

Psychological 1st Aid

International Humanitarian Law

Shelter Fundamentals & Simulation (Spring 2013)

CPR & 1st Aid

If you need to enroll in one of these courses, please contact your Disaster Action Team

chair. Advanced courses will be offered according to our capacity-building needs. New

information about upcoming courses will be emailed to you and also posted on Volun-

teer Connection.

Online Training:

Red Cross also offers many online training courses. In future months, new basic and

advance level courses will be placed on the American Red Cross Learning Center. Below

are a few examples of courses currently on offer:

Introduction to Casework (Military)

Coping with Deployments (Military)

Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear & Explosive Response

Disaster Services: An Overview

Shelter Fundamentals (New Basic Shelter Course)

Management

Please visit the American Red Cross Learning Center at https://classes.redcross.org/

Saba/Web/Main to enroll. For current volunteers, your user name is your email and your

temporary password is Welcome1. For new volunteers, follow the directions to set-up an

account.

For further information or questions, email arcmttraining@redcross.org.

Ready When the Time Comes Allison Hupp

Are You Red Cross Ready? Kevin Murszewski

At Montana Red Cross, everybody knows Edna Mae Duncan.

Whether she is responding as a local disaster action team

member or assisting with statewide nursing support, Edna Mae

is one of our busiest and most committed volunteersa week

rarely goes by without her name appearing in at least one of

our incident logs.

When Edna Mae is on the case, we know that our clients will

receive the care and support they need. She is a consummate

professional, and her connection with clients and other volun-

teers is without parallel.

Edna Mae Duncan is an outstanding person and volunteer, an

example to others, and we just love her. It is a privilege to

work with Edna Mae and a pleasure to nominate her as our

Volunteer of the Quarter.

In Memoriam: Denys Dutton

The Montana Red Cross lost a much-

valued volunteer last month. Denys

Dutton, 59, died suddenly while on va-

cation in Missouri, leaving behind his

wife, Karen Dutton, a daughter, several

step-children and grandchildren, and his

beloved Labrador Retriever, Sherman.

In his years with the Red Crosshe first

signed up in 2005--Denny deployed to

disasters across the country, from hur-

ricanes in the Gulf Coast, wildfires in

California, to numerous smaller disas-

ters in Montana.

Denny was a natural-born leader. His

leadership skills almost always landed

him in a supervisory position at Red

Cross. But he liked working directly with

the public, bringing aid and comfort to

the afflicted in person.

He could talk to anyone, from novice

volunteers to the Governor of Montana.

He had the gift of gab, a talent he em-

ployed not only in his role as Red Cross

volunteer, but as historian and tour

guide.

Denys Dutton will be sorely missed by

all who knew him, especially by those of

us who worked with him at Montana

Red Cross.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how do you rate yourself or your family when it comes to pre-

paredness? To Be Read Cross Ready, you need to Get a Kit, Make a Plan, Be Informed.

Make sure you and family walk the talk! Go to http://www.redcross.org/support/

emergency-preparedness to assess your own state of readiness.

Partnering for Preparedness

In partnership with the Governors Office of Community Service, these past 6 month we

have focused on educating seniors on disaster preparedness. From Libby to Glasgow

and Billings to Dillon, Montana Red Cross volunteers and staff have delivered 1,210

presentations to train seniors on preparedness. Heres a map that shows every commu-

nity weve impacted so far (some with more than one presentation):

Over the next six months we will continue those efforts, focusing on harder-to reach

areas in our state as well as our seven reservation, with a new media campaign. We will

keep you posted!

To Our Donors: Thank You for Supporting Our Volunteers Efforts Diane Wright

Read All About It: Montana Red Cross in the News

Montana Red Cross activities have been getting more news coverage lately. Heres a

sampling of stories that highlight the work of our volunteers. Enjoy!

From the Daily Inter Lake, a story about Lew Saviks deployment to Superstorm Sandy.

From KBZK.com, a story about how Jenny Erickson and Terry Loveland helped a

Corvallis man who lost his house to a fire.

From KXLO-KLCM.com, a story about the Kolar familys Red Cross involvement.

Join us on Facebook and Twitter!

If you want the latest Montana Red Cross news, dont forget to friend us on Facebook

and follow us on Twitter. Weve started to post updates on the local activities of our vol-

unteers, as well as other news and tips, on these two social media sites and our volun-

teers seem to enjoy it. Join us at:

www.facebook.com/MontanaRedCross

www.twitter.com/MontanaRedCross

Look for more information on Montana Red Cross social media activity in our next news-

letter.

Contact us:

American Red Cross of Montana

Media Office

233 Edelweiss Drive, Unit 9

Bozeman MT 59718

1-800-ARC-MONT

(800-272-6668)

A Message from Our CEO

A copy of this newsletter can also be found on our website.