Petro-Canada Helps Red Cross Strengthen its Disaster Response Capacity

When disasters strike anywhere in Canada, they can differ greatly in type and magnitude. Whether they are floods, storms or tornadoes-one thing remains the same; volunteers form the backbone of the Canadian Red Cross response. Petro-Canada recently contributed $50,000 to help train the most highly skilled of these disaster response volunteers.

Through Petro-Canada's support, the Red Cross volunteers will be better prepared to help the survivors of disasters who almost always need help to meet immediate day-to-day basic needs, and often require longer-term help to rebuild their lives and deal with the trauma. Those in need can count on help from the Canadian Red Cross.
 
In addition to this training donation, Petro-Canada is helping directly with our disaster relief efforts. Recently employees raised $7,030 to support the Red Cross Southern Africa Appeal which the company matched, for a total contribution of $14,060. Petro-Canada has also offered to match employee donations received by mid-March for the Badger, Newfoundland relief effort.

"Our employees are anxious to help the Red Cross with its important work and we are pleased to be able to support them by matching their contributions," says Hazel Gillespie, Petro-Canada's Community Investment Manager. "Since 1996, we've been involved with 15 global assistance initiatives and our employees have generously rallied to the cause every time. It's a great source of pride for all of us and we're very grateful to the Red Cross for being there to care for and help those families, around the world, who are affected by these tragedies."

The Red Cross knows very well that highly skilled, well-trained volunteers waiting on call for deployment are key to its success in helping people devastated by disasters. "Disaster Management Training provides volunteers with the knowledge and skills needed to determine what human, material and financial resources will be required, for what length of time, and to develop a plan for relief and recovery," said Don Shropshire, National Director, Disaster Services, Canadian Red Cross. "We want to ensure that the basic needs of people affected are met and that these people can return to as normal a life as possible, as soon as it can be managed. Although the experience of having participated in other disaster operations is important, it is also crucial that our volunteers receive the most thorough training possible ahead of time in order to prepare for any eventuality."

The impact of such volunteer readiness was seen when a major flood struck Badger, Newfoundland on February 15, 2003. Within hours of the calamity, Red Cross volunteers were in place, registering the evacuees and ensuring people received basic support in the form of food, shelter, clothing and personal items. Throughout its operation in Badger, a team of more than 120 volunteers supported the relief efforts to help the more than 1,000 evacuees-from the initial relief required to cover their basic needs to the recovery stage, when they begin to return home.

Canadians turn to the Red Cross to translate their care and concern for victims into meaningful help.  During the past 10 years, Canadians affected by disaster have received more than $100 million in assistance from Red Cross.