I was with Red Cross Twitter Team member Ann Douglas at a social media event last year and she said to me: “There is someone here you must meet.” That someone was Ann Marie Burton from momstown.ca.
And Ann was right – within just a few minutes of chatting with Ann Marie it was obvious that there are many synergies between the Red Cross and momstown.
Momstown has a unique model of building communities online through its website, blogs and Twitter accounts, as well as creating opportunities for moms and children to meet in their communities. This level of community engagement is similar to the Red Cross model. So, we thought, it would be a great opportunity to establish a partnership where the Red Cross can collaborate with momstown moms, not just online, but in their communities. 
We put our heads together and came up with an agreement that the Red Cross will offer a series of workshops on water safety, preparing families for a disaster, and child/ infant first aid and CPR. Thanks to vast networks of Red Cross volunteers and first aid instructors across the country, we plan to deliver at least one of these workshops in each community where momstown has a chapter.
Momstown will make the Canadian Red Cross its charity of choice and has set a goal to raise $5,000 to support Red Cross disaster relief programs that help families right here in Canada. That donation will go a long way in helping the Red Cross respond to personal disasters – such as house fires of floods and ensuring affected families have shelter, food and basic necessities. The Red Cross helps more than 20,000 Canadians affected by disaster each year
Momstown has also come on board as a member of our Red Cross Twitter Team to help the Red Cross share important information during times of disaster.
It’s an exciting partnership and, for me, it’s a reflection of the era that we are living and working in – that we can build online friendships and connections that grow into ‘real life’ partnerships that can help our communities grow.