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Nearly one year later, how your donations have helped people recover and rebuild following the devastating wildfires in Alberta. 

The two interlacing hearts etched onto a medal awarded to four Canadian Red Cross volunteers are meant to evoke caring and generosity. And they are qualities that volunteers Robert Chochinov, Dixie Lea Fenwick, Paula Green and Robert Thomas Hamson have demonstrated time and again throughout their careers with the organization.

Manitoba families who have been evacuated from their homes due to flooding had a chance to get away from their hotels for a few hours and enjoy some activities on the Easter weekend, thanks to the Red Cross and the corporate support of BMO Bank of Montreal.

When people are facing an emergency or disaster, there’s a natural desire to seek as much information as one can find, as there’s an urgency to take action. Knowledge is empowering. It helps people make the best possible decision for their family, such as how to prepare for the disaster, whether to evacuate, when to remain safely at home, where to go, and what services are available. Knowledge also alleviates fear of the unknown.

Even when fire ravaged her recently renovated home, Saskatchewan resident Brenda Lyons didn’t think she needed support, initially declining Red Cross assistance; however, she discovered support was just what she needed to get her and her family through the long journey of recovery.

​“I remember the exact day – it was 17 June 2015,” says Samita Tamang. Only one month after the second earthquake hit Nepal, Samita underwent surgery in her remote community of Dhunche, in the District of Rasuwa, Nepal.

It is a story taken right out of the pages of an adventure novel: a harrowing escape from a wildfire that was quickly encroaching on the city. This is how Peter Fortna and Jay Telegdi describe their evacuation from the Fort McMurray wildfires a year ago, which inspired the two friends to start a fundraiser for those evacuated from their homes in Aleppo, Syria.

The Red Cross and Red Crescent movement is governed by seven fundamental principles. Today we're taking a closer look at the principle of independence, and why it is important to our work in Canada and around the world.