Volunteers 25

From Nicaragua to Newfoundland and on to Alberta, Aliusha Benoit follows her heart when communities need help, particularly after a disaster.

It isn’t always the easiest path to travel, but since Aly first joined the Red Cross as a disaster relief volunteer in Nicaragua more than 20 years ago, she wouldn’t live any other way.

 

I’m not sure how many people know that I am a Personal Disaster Assistance volunteer with the Red Cross in Ottawa, but I wanted to take a minute to talk about the amazing work I get to do, and how you can support a very worthy cause.

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.
 

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.

The cat in question, Sylvester, a black cat who lived in Dauphin’s Towers Hotel, came back from a near-death experience after he rode the front of the hotel’s second storey down to the ground as it collapsed following a recent fire. The fire left several residents without a home, including the cat.

To celebrate World Humanitarian Day on August 19^th, Red Cross Talks is featuring a few Canadian Red Cross delegates who have dedicated themselves to helping others in humanitarian relief efforts around the world and here at home.
 

Many people were affected in the Lac-Mégantic disaster, including Réjean Bourque who began volunteering with the Canadian Red Cross from July 6, 2013 when he saw his community in need.