Engaged & Inspired at the World Bank

This morning the World Bank held a comfort kit build for 250 of their employees from around the world, the first event of a week long retreat surrounding poverty and giving – and your Red Cross team took center stage!

World Bank employees created 2,000 comfort kits using 15 teams of 15 people each at their Headquarters in DC. To kick off the event Matt Coyne and Geoff DeLizzio gave speeches about what the Red Cross does locally and how that translates to work around the country and around the world, using the opportunity to connect our mission with some of the world’s top economic minds. Matt and Geoff were also tasked with being the go-to experts in the room for a scavenger hunt that included Red Cross statistics and questions, as well as a task to “take a selfie with a Red Cross person.” So both of them talked to most people in the room during the two hour event.

There was constant high energy in the iconic Atrium of the World Bank as the teams competed with their scavenger hunt questions and kit builds, so much so that employees from other areas of the World Bank were approaching to inquire how they could take part.

The event was notably attended by the Chief Executive Officer of the World Bank, Kristalina Georgieva, as well as the Vice President of Finance, Jan Walliser. Both Geoff and Matt had the opportunity to speak with them about the work of the Red Cross and poverty.

Go Matt and Geoff!

My Red Cross Military Story: Ivy Williams

by Emily Goff and Rebecca Churchill

Since Clara Barton nursed soldiers on the battlefields of the Civil War, the Red Cross has been a symbol of support and comfort to America’s armed forces. Ivy Williams was a U.S. soldier stationed in Saudi Arabia when he was wounded and hospitalized. During his rehabilitation, he encountered the human faces of the Red Cross. Day after day, he was visited by kind volunteers who encouraged and supported him, undoubtedly hastening his recovery, and filling him with gratitude. "What's most amazing about the [Red Cross] organization is the people you come in contact with," he said.

There were moments throughout Ivy’s war experience that illuminated the work of the Red Cross in alleviating soldiers’ physical and emotional pain. He witnessed the great power in simple care packages. Ivy watched his friends confined to cots, pouring through the devotionals and using the toiletries and new blankets, offering them simple comforts and remembrances of home and caring people.

Ivy reflected on learning about the versatility of the Red Cross, "I had some misconceptions about the Red Cross before I traveled overseas to serve this country. Now I know that it doesn't exist only to deliver band-aids; in all truth, it exists to spread the positive news, too.” 

Ivy knew too well about the duty to deliver bad news, like the death of a family member. However, he was delighted to be with his friend and fellow soldier when the Red Cross called with a different news delivery: the birth of a healthy baby daughter. Despite war around them, Ivy was able to see how the Red Cross strove to support people amid times of joy, as well as despair.

Ivy also recalled how one of his acquaintances had been severely wounded and sent home to the U.S., along with a grant from the Red Cross. Such a financial endowment enabled him to support his family and pay bills, an action that, for many veterans, is a significant struggle during their transition and recovery. "That grant was truly instrumental," Ivy stated.

“The Red Cross is an invaluable service and helps in more ways than you can imagine,” he said. “Take the time to understand what it is the Red Cross does; understand the variety of its services. Don't focus on just one part of it."

Learn more about how the Red Cross supports America's military and Veteran families here: http://www.redcross.org/about-us/our-work/military-families 

Volunteer Profile - Mary Bochanis

90 Years Young Walter Reed Volunteer

Written by: Megan Sanko, volunteer

Long-time American Red Cross volunteer Mary Bochanis is an avid supporter of the work at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where she began volunteering during World War II. She still considers it to be a world-class hospital.  It was at old Walter Reed Hospital where she met her husband of over 60 years, then a soldier and amputee.  Bochanis feels her marriage offered her the ability to connect with both injured patients and their spouses on a personal level.  She visits with them during her Comfort Cart rounds each week, distributing toiletries and snacks and having conversations along the way.  The prosthesis technology available to amputees today continues to amaze Bochanis.  Her outgoing and friendly nature is also an asset at the Children’s Inn at NIH, where she has volunteered for 25 years using her bilingual skills to interpret for Greek patients.  At 90 years of age, Bochanis is thrilled to be able to volunteer at both locations and credits her interactions with patients and their families as her motivation to continue.  She is grateful for the opportunity to give back, a feeling that is likely mutual for the many individuals to whom she has offered her kind support.