British Columbia News and Stories
Manitoba volunteer honoured with top Red Cross award
- For the past 26 years, Phyllis Wiscombe of Arnes, Manitoba, has given her time to help people affected by disasters, train future disaster responders and improve the Red Cross’s capacity to help people in need. For her outstanding contributions to the movement, Wiscombe recently received the Order of the Red Cross, the highest honour the Canadian Red Cross can give a volunteer.
Philippine Red Cross’ Secretary General reaffirms strong partnership with the Canadian Red Cross
- Dr. Gwendolyn Pang, Secretary General of the Philippine Red Cross, recently paid us a visit at Canadian Red Cross offices in Ontario and British Columbia, where she reaffirmed the strong partnership formed with us in the wake of the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan which struck her country two years ago.
Celebrating humanitarians for World Humanitarian Day
- Today, August 19, marks World Humanitarian Day and to honour aid workers and volunteers around the world, we’ve compiled a few stories of people who dedicate their time to humanitarian efforts.
Training First Nations first responders in B.C.
- Medical help can sometimes be far away if you’re living in rural and remote First Nations communities in British Columbia. In the past, getting on-call emergency assistance to people in need could be a major challenge. The First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) is working with the Canadian Red Cross to change that.
Dispatch from a Canadian nurse working in Nepal
- It's hard to believe that I have already been in Dhunche one week. This morning when I got up, the sky was clear enough to see the snow-capped mountains in Tibet and Langtang Mountain. Usually, this region is a trekker’s paradise, but the earthquakes and ongoing instability of the landscape have changed that for now.
World Refugee Day: Red Cross reunites family scattered by bombing attack
- Losing contact with family members can cause enormous anxiety, especially in the midst of disaster or conflict. Sometimes separation will last for days or months and sometimes it will last for years, as it did for Sadia and her siblings.
Difference between tornado watch and warning and other tips to be prepared
- Summer brings warmer weather but also an increase in frequency of tornado warnings and watches. On average, Canada gets 62 tornadoes a year and they can have devastating effects on homes and communities. Do you know the difference between a tornado watch and warning? Are you prepared if there is a tornado in your region?
Nepal earthquake a stark reminder of need to be ready
- Large-scale disasters like the Nepal earthquake last week continue to remind us of the importance of being ready. Canada is not immune to disasters, as we saw with the Alberta floods and the Lac-Mégantic train derailment in 2013.
We mark Emergency Preparedness Week (May 3-9) here in Canada by encouraging everyone to be ready.
Helping people to hope: Canadian nurse writes from Ebola treatment centre in Sierra Leone
- Patrice Gordon, a British Columbia nurse practitioner and Red Cross delegate, is currently working at the Red Cross Ebola treatment centre in Kenema, Sierra Leone. She writes:
More clues about Muggins, the amazing Red Cross dog
- 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!
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