Kelli Thode is the Executive Director of American Red Cross serving Northwest Washington. She is a Rotarian with one of the Everett clubs and a longtime resident of Snohomish County.
The mission statement: "The American Red Cross prevents and alleviates human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the powers of volunteers and the generosity of donors".
90% of the work is done by volunteers.
90% of every dollar donated goes directly to the service of this mission.
Primary Lines of Service include:
- Biomedical Services (blood collection)
- Armed Forces Emergency Services
- Health & Safety Services
- International Services
- Disaster Services
One of the things they do is emergency messages - births, deaths, illness - to members of the armed services.
Disaster services is a huge part of their work, and has been especially so during this pandemic. They also need to be able to respond to other emergencies, such as floods, fires, and other natural disasters.
Kelli shared a video of a Haggen employee who experienced a house fire, and how Red Cross supported them, as well as how that strengthened their partnership with Haggen.
Kelli also discussed how they have adjusted their practices due to Covid - many creative alternative ways have emerged throughout the past year, but the support continues!
Did you know - the Red Cross provides free smoke alarms?
The Red Cross also hosts an annual event at Tulalip called The Heroes Event - it was virtual this year, but still very celebratory for people who made a difference in their community.
View amazing stories from the Heroes Event here: https://www.redcross.org/local/washington/about-us/news-and-events/events/snohomish-heroes.html