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In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, as information began to flow into Canada about how serious this disease might become, Alberta Health Services started ramping up their testing capacity. Some 10,000 kilometres away in Southeast Asia, the Philippine Red Cross took notice.

Cindy Chiu volunteers to support the Health Equipment Loans Program and the Friendly Calls Program, two vital Red Cross community health and well-being services in Alberta. 
“The most rewarding part about volunteering with HELP is hearing people express their gratitude for the equipment they received; how it greatly aided in their recovery or helped them continue to live independently.”

Lucia Lasso is one of two full-time Head of Emergency Operations with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), which means she’s almost always thinking about disasters. But even when she’s not actively engaged in an operation, she spends her time thinking about how the Red Cross can respond to emergencies more effectively. This includes encouraging other women to aspire to positions of leadership.

As a COVID-19 outbreak in late April and early May 2021 impacted Iqaluit, Mayor Kenny Bell knew that help was needed. The Canadian Red Cross was brought to Iqaluit in mid-May to provide additional support to a homeless shelter in the city but, by the time the team left, they had also done Epidemic Prevention and Control (EPC) assessments for 13 organizations across the city. 

Exactly 25 years ago, during the night of Friday, July 19 to Saturday, July 20, 1996, heavy rain triggered floods in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, threatening the entire region and causing one of the largest evacuations in the history of Quebec. Thousands of people, helpless in the face of the tragedy, braved the torrential floods that swept everything away.

Red Cross volunteer David Summerby-Murray never expected a need to apply his expertise regarding infectious diseases in a place like Nova Scotia, but that quickly changed with the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a young child in Canada, Rateb always acknowledged that his internal calling was to help those in need. Following his parents’ immigration to the Middle East, Rateb obtained his medical degree in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Rateb saw the opportunity to directly apply his training and skills through the greater good of humanitarian work, and joined the Canadian Red Cross to help on the front lines.

Think your kids may be having too much screen time while we’ve been at home more these days? You’re not alone. While screen time has its uses, we thought to provide a few offline activities that can help kids transition from the virtual world to the real world again.