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In our current era which favours immediacy over careful contemplation, some things still take a lifetime to achieve – and they are worth the wait. Just ask Red Deer’s Women of Excellence Lifetime Achievement award winner, Nora Styner. A long-time Canadian Red Cross volunteer, Styner also took home the Red Deer & Community’s leadership award in the category of Athletics, Recreation and Fitness. Both awards symbolize Styner’s unwavering commitment to volunteerism.

For Virginia Monias, 61, a member of Garden Hill First Nation, it was Manitoba's changing winds that forced her out of her home.
"The smoke was coming from the south, but they were afraid the smoke would come from the west and hit Garden Hill. They were prepared for it. That's why we came to Winnipeg," said Monias, who was evacuated on September 2.

When Telus employee Nerissa Muxlow was asked to describe her experience volunteering at the Resiliency Centre in Williams Lake, B.C., she only had one word.
“Amazing.”

Over the past week, Canadian Red Cross volunteers from all across the country have arrived in Prince George, B.C., to support the local team. Meet some of the amazing Red Crossers that are already making a difference on the ground in Prince George.

Volunteer André Robert has participated in many major Red Cross responses, including the train explosion in Lac-Mégantic and the Syrian refugee arrival, and has worked for various NGOs over the course of his career.

In what proved to be a well-timed coincidence, Red Cross volunteer Cheryl Beckett was part of a training exercise last Thursday with the City of Ottawa. Her role was to help set up a mock reception centre. The very next day she would do the same thing but not as part of an exercise this time, as flood waters in Ottawa began to seep into residential areas and many families became unsafe. 

In honour of National Volunteer week, we’re taking a closer look at the fundamental principle of voluntary service. This principle is very basic, but it has a huge impact on the Red Cross and Red Crescent, because there is no way we could do the work that we do without our volunteers. 

The two interlacing hearts etched onto a medal awarded to four Canadian Red Cross volunteers are meant to evoke caring and generosity. And they are qualities that volunteers Robert Chochinov, Dixie Lea Fenwick, Paula Green and Robert Thomas Hamson have demonstrated time and again throughout their careers with the organization.