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The work of the Canadian Red Cross is made possible through the tireless work of our dedicated volunteers. December 5 is International Volunteer Day, and we want to celebrate the work of all our amazing volunteers, and take a moment to introduce you to Cathy. 
 

In the spring of 2016, Leonie Bree says she was happily in the process of starting her own business, and she and her husband had recently bought a home in the neighbourhood of Abasand. Her daughters, Vanessa and Katrena, who were starting their own families, had also just bought homes in Beacon Hill and Waterways. However, that all changed after wildfires swept through the city in May, forcing the family to evacuate. Unfortunately, all three homes were lost to the flames.

The Canadian Red Cross team is continuing to visit villages and remote regions of Haiti affected by Hurricane Matthew to provide medical care through the mobile health clinic. Last week, the mobile clinic visited four communities including Cap à Fou which had been previously inaccessible to aid workers due to severely damaged roads. 

The Round-up offers a weekly sample of what our sister Red Cross Societies are working on around the world. Here is an update on Red Cross response to flooding in Dominican Republic, earthquakes in New Zealand and conflict in Iraq.

As part of the Canadian Red Cross Healthy Youth Relationships curriculum, Saskatchewan runs two youth symposiums with the goal of empowering youth with leadership skills so that they are better equipped to serve their schools and communities.  We caught up with 14-year-old Olivia Scrimshaw, a student in Saskatoon, to find out what the symposium meant to her.

Brenna Brown is a Disaster Management volunteer with the Canadian Red Cross. She was most recently involved in the Alberta Fires response, setting up emergency reception centres and shelters in Calgary and Edmonton to provide services for the thousands of evacuees from Fort McMurray and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.

Last week, I had the privilege of emceeing and providing a youth perspective at the 2016 Canadian Partnership for Women & Children’s Health (CanWaCH) Conference. The conference, held in partnership with McGill University’s Public Policy and Population Health Observatory and Institute for Health and Social Policy (IHSP), drew an audience that was as diverse as it was passionate.

It’s that time of year – when so many of us will be noticing we’re feeling a little run down, maybe a little sniffly, maybe coughing and sneezing a few times – oh no, it’s cold and flu season! 
No one likes being sick, so how can you help prevent it?