Red Cross Stories (Page 12)

As Typhoon Hagupit swept across the Philippines this week with millions of people bracing themselves for the storm’s onslaught, Jiferson Cueto was among the hundreds of specially trained Philippine Red Cross volunteers stationed in areas yet to be hit by Hagupit.

Nawaf was three years into a challenging five-year bachelor’s degree in computer and information engineering in Damascus when the ongoing Syrian conflict forced him to put his dreams on pause. His family had already fled the country some 18 months before, but Nawaf, 24, and the oldest of seven siblings, stayed behind.

Today, December 5, marks International Volunteer Day, an annual opportunity to highlight the contributions that volunteers across the globe are making each and every day.
 

Last month, we told the story of Muggins, the famous Canadian Red Cross fundraising dog from Victoria, British Columbia.
During the First World War, he raised more than $21,000 (about $400,000 now), just trotting around town alone with two donation boxes on his back. He often visited ferries and freightliners arriving in Victoria, and grew so famous that overseas visitors would ask for the little white Spitz dog. When Muggins eventually died in 1920, his body was preserved by a professional taxidermist, and that is where the story seemed to end last time. But now we’ve uncovered more clues!

While the memories of childhood can be vague, this song (My Body Is Nobody's Body But Mine) still makes my ears perk up. It may ring familiar with my fellow children of the 80s. For the uninitiated, the song was part of a sexual abuse prevention program aimed at children.

As winter approaches, along with the annual threat of snow storms and extended power outages, the Canadian Red Cross is ready to help, just as they did recently when thousands of Calgarians were plunged into darkness.

Things got spooky at Ontario Red Cross headquarters this Friday, October 31, when staff held a Halloween potluck, including a pumpkin carving contest with designs ranging from traditional jack-o-lanterns to a portrait of Red Cross founder, Henri Dunant.