Kathleen Sundstrum, former Rotarian and recently arrived in Austin from Corvallis, Oregon, is the Regional Philanthropic Officer for the American Red Cross. She presented a well organized review of the mission of the American Red Cross which “prevents and alleviates human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.” The avenues of services through which this mission is accomplished are Disaster Relief, Health and Safety (through education), Service to the Armed Forces, International Relief (in response to disasters of any kind), and Blood Services. A more recent effort, called Sound the Alarm, is aimed at ending home fires. Teaming the installation of smoke alarms in at-risk areas with the education of residents on how to respond to a fire has resulted in a documented saving of 600 lives. Red Cross programs are both proactive and reactive, the latter of which includes long term recovery efforts, such as current work with Hurricane Harvey victims. And finally, Kathleen told us about the Tiffany Circle of women donors. Over 900 women members of the Circle pledge a minimum of $10,000 per year to the American Red Cross. The Circle is named for the three Tiffany stained-glass windows commissioned in 1917 and now located in ARC National Headquarters in Washington, DC. They depict the theme of “ministry to the sick and wounded through sacrifice.” For a beautiful illustration and explanation of the windows, check out this website:
www.redcross.org/about-us/who-we-are/history/tiffany-windows.html
www.redcross.org/about-us/who-we-are/history/tiffany-windows.html