Increase your Impact with Get Up and Give! Through Donor Bridge

Written by Lilly Watson, staff contributor

September 13^th is a special day for you and the American Red Cross North Texas Region!

 As one of our friends, you have the opportunity to give online through Donor Bridge and have your gift of $25 or more matched to increase the impact of your gift and help us bring more of our important services to victims of disaster in North Texas.

Here at the Red Cross, it’s all about making an impact. Whether it’s the blanket and Piper the Puppy that keeps a child comforted in one of our shelters or the hot cup of coffee and safe place to stay for a person whose home caught fire, the Red Cross is there. We’re also there for the military family coping through a family crisis while a loved one is deployed, and for the person who can’t find their loved ones in a war-torn nation. Down the street, across the country and around the globe, the American Red Cross serves people in need every day. 

Our volunteers are trained to serve when disaster strikes and that service makes an impact. The 7,674 registered volunteers with the American Red Cross North Texas Region worked a total of 1,030,815 hours for our organization, expecting nothing in return but the satisfaction they get from helping others. That is an overall economic value of more than $22 million! A staff of 98.7% volunteers means more of your donated dollar going to more of our services – around the clock, every day.

When you give to the Red Cross, you are making a gift that can and will go on to serve people affected by disaster. Disaster has no timeline or preference when it comes to choosing where it will strike. We work to serve all people facing disaster, and your gift keeps us able to serve anyone at any time. 

North Texas Giving Day is an online giving event that provides nonprofits the opportunity to gain exposure to -- and start relationships with -- new donors, and for people in North Texas to come together to raise as much money as possible for local nonprofits.

Please join us for Get Up and Give on September 13 to make an impact!

All credit card gifts made on the Donor Bridge website from 7am CST – Midnight on Thursday, September 13, will be matched by the Communities Foundation of Texas. Get Up and Give a gift online from your computer or smartphone to be part of this incredible day of fundraising!

Ready to increase your impact while serving victims of disaster through the American Red Cross North Texas Region? There are three easy ways to find us on donorbridgetx.org:

1. Name Search: Enter “American Red Cross North Texas Region” in the search field and hit Search
2. Alpha Search: click on the letter of the first word in your name. ex: Click "A” to find American Red Cross North Texas Region.
3. Category Search: Click on the category of your organization. American Red Cross North Texas Region is in the Human Services category!

To make your online credit card gift of $25.00 or more to the American Red Cross North Texas Region through Get Up and Give, click here. We thank you for your support!

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Donors Get New Advocate in New Chief Development Officer Liz Birlet

Written By Lilly Watson, staff contributor

Since Clara Barton founded the organization in 1881, the American Red Cross has served the country as the leading emergency response organization. After a year of reorganizing chapters into a regional structure, the Red Cross is moving forward to meet the needs of our modern society, and is once again calling on successful and high energy females like Liz Birlet to lead the initiative. Newly appointed as the chief development officer for the American Red Cross North Texas Region, Birlet joins a seasoned senior leadership team dedicated to advancing their fundraising efforts into the future. 

While her resume showcases a successful history in fundraising and senior leadership, it’s Birlet’s passion for people, whether her donors or her staff of 22 employees, that sets her apart. 

“I truly believe that every gift matters, whether it’s one dollar or a large gift from a corporation or foundation,” Birlet explained as she shared her plan to come in focusing on all areas of local fundraising. “I want to make sure that we’re paying attention to all of the Red Cross supporters and working to communicate to them in new and engaging ways.”

With a $12.3 million dollar fundraising goal for the North Texas Region this year, Birlet knows it is going to take willingness from her team to approach fundraising in new and creative ways to make this fiscal year a record breaker. Birlet points to some of the more creative fundraising tactics already in place, such as the “Piper the Puppy” campaign, as examples that show why her team is set up for success. “Piper the Puppy” is a stuffed animal that is given to a child to provide comfort after disasters and is sponsored by a donor for a $100 gift. The donor’s name is written on Piper’s paw pad and a postcard is sent to the donor once Piper has been placed in the arms of a child. 

“When you think that a donor engagement device as innovative and unique as “Piper the Puppy” was imagined by one of our donors and developed right here in Dallas, I know that I have a team that is dedicated and creative enough to take fundraising efforts for the Red Cross to a new level,” Birlet explained. 

Birlet recently relocated to the Dallas area from Chicago where she served the nonprofit sector as a consultant for more than a decade and also held positions at academic research institutes including the University of California, San Diego, the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

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Colliers International Dallas-Fort Worth Launches New Charity Partnership with the American Red Cross

Written by Lilly Watson, staff contributor

When asked what motivates Mary Stoner Yost to strive for her best in all of her professional and personal projects, Mary sums it up simply: “My motto is, ‘You only live once. This is not a dress rehearsal.’ I think we should make the best use of our time here and leave the world a better place."

Mary Stoner Yost, executive vice president at Colliers International, is now uniting her professional career as a service-led commercial real estate broker and her volunteer experience to inspire other with her motto and encourage an attitude of giving in her coworkers. 

The real estate company has named the American Red Cross North Texas Region as their workplace charity of choice, which begin an exciting partnership featuring volunteer and fundraising opportunities as well as unique programming and educational opportunities from the Red Cross for Colliers staff.

The partnership kicked off with a tour of the American Red Cross facilities and an opportunity to learn about the programs and services that the Red Cross provides. They also engaged their staff and the tenants of Granite’s Park17 to participate in an office blood drive benefitting the Red Cross during their nationwide call for emergency blood donations on June 28. Colliers’ clients, colleagues, friends and family gathered on July 11 at  the House of Blues, with all proceeds from admission benefitting the American Red Cross. A $10 entry fee covered appetizers and the first round of drinks.

Mary Stoner Yost (left) with American Red Cross North Texas Region CEO
T.D. Smyers (center) and YPA President Caroline Hurley (right)

“One of the core values of Colliers is community and another one is fun,” Yost said as she shared all of the Red Cross events on their office calendar. “We really feel like we need to live our values every day and part of that is by giving back to the community.”

Colliers employees in Dallas will also get to participate in a compression-only CPR class, an emergency hygiene kit donation and assembly party and in the fall, employees will sign holiday cards to be distributed to servicemen and women as well as veterans through the American Red Cross Holiday Mail for Heroes program.

Yost initially found a place for her time and talents with the American Red Cross Tiffany Circle Society of Women Leaders, a national group of women who make annual financial contributions to their area chapters and help develop new ways of fundraising and serving the public during times of disaster. Alongside her long-time friend, Suzy Bashore, they now both serve as co-chairs.

“I thought, ‘People lose everything in a house fire or other disaster. Where do they go and what do they do? If it wasn’t for the Red Cross, who would be providing these services?’” she explained, “Learning more about the Red Cross and how it is completely relying on donors to do this work drew me in.”

Through the Tiffany Circle, Yost was able to work on one of her favorite Red Cross projects, a stuffed dog named Piper the Puppy. Piper is given to someone going through a disaster that needs something soft and special to hold onto. Piper the Puppy is purchased through a $100 tax-deductible gift to the Red Cross. The donor’s name is written on Piper’s footpad and a card is sent when Piper deploys to a disaster to let its purchaser know that their gift is tucked into the arms of a disaster victim.

“Piper was brainstormed here in Dallas by two good friends of mine, Tiffany Circle co-chair Suzy Bashore and Phebe Phillips,” Yost said. “When you think about a child who has lost everything – their toy box, their home, everything – you think about what they possibly have to hold on to that will give them hope. They’re scared and maybe they’re cold, and giving a child a Piper the Puppy is an automatic good, soft touch and feel for them and provides comfort.”

Yost hopes that by making a connection with the Red Cross easily accessible to her coworkers, many will continue to support the organization outside of the work place. She now serves as a mentor to the newly formed American Red Cross Young Professionals Auxiliary of DFW, a group for young professionals ages 21-30 who are looking for unique networking, service and social opportunities in the Metroplex.

“I think it’s important to bring the next generation of young professionals into the charitable world so they can get an idea of how to serve on a board, what you do on a committee and the structure of an organization,” Yost said when asked about her inspiration for helping with the launch of the auxiliary. “I remember when I was young and getting in the business. I never forgot the people that helped me when I was in my early twenties to get involved in both industry and charitable organizations and to give back to our community at an early age.”

Yost's legacy with the organization is being created through the lives she introduces to the Red Cross. Each one of these individuals can now experience the mission and choose to leave a lasting impression on their neighbors and community because of the partnership she helped create. 

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Birthday Celebration Complete with Kids and Puppies: 200-Year-Old Citi Gives Back

Written by David Peveto, intern staff contributor 

If you were turning 200-years-old, how would you celebrate? Citi came down to the Dallas Area Chapter of the American Red Cross North Texas Region to celebrate both their anniversary as a bank, and the seventh annual Global Community Day. 

Source: facebook.com/Citi

Around 150 members of the DFW community of Citibank employees and their families made the trek to spend the morning learning lifesaving skills, helping keep the Red Cross on track and ready to respond to whatever may come their way with volunteer projects, and from what I could tell, have a good time in the process. Which brings me to the main theme I found, little kids doing anything are adorable, oh, and volunteering is good. 

Source: Flickr American Red Cross-Dallas Area Chapter

Throughout the day the Citibank community had the chance to do several activities including: packing and preparing Piper the Puppy for deployment, watching the Red Cross produced film F5, getting hands-only CPR training, and going on a tour of our facilities to get a basic understanding of how the Red Cross operates from day to day in Dallas. As a new intern here at the Red Cross, they let me have sort of free reign over where I was able to go and cover the event. I was able to go in and out of all facets of the day. 

I spent the most time in the room with teaching hands only CPR—a refined technique of CPR which eliminates the breaths and other parts of traditional CPR, and only requires the participant to provide chest compressions to the victim at approximately 100 beats per minute, ironically “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees is a common recommendation to set the pace for a life saving rhythm.

Watching the adults participating, and enjoying the experience of learning the steps was interesting, but watching the families of the employees was by far the more entertaining thing. Seeing these 4-8 year old kids trying their hardest to perform chest compressions on a CPR training dummy, and failing to have the strength to fully utilize the skills being taught to them. 

One very young boy was absolutely determined to save the practice dummy's life, so his father was as slyly as possible placing his hands on either side of his son’s and doing 99% of the work, but it didn’t matter at the end of the day. It was evident, this kid was filled with a sense of pride, which was mutually shared by his parents. 

Packing and prepping Piper the Puppy was a similar situation, the minutia of which forms and papers go into the bag to prep our beloved puppy isn't emotionally charged, or visually interesting, for that matter. But these kids knew they were prepping stuffed animals that would help other kids get through some of the most traumatic experiences. I'm pretty sure that helping like that isn't something they will forget anytime soon.

And throughout all of these experiences, I had an epiphany. 

Source: Flickr American Red Cross-Dallas Area Chapter

It wasn’t just the kids who were enjoying themselves and extremely eager to participate, it was everyone there. I was able to see a group of people legitimately get a kick out of taking time out of their busy lives to help others make this world a better place—what could be better than this for a birthday wish?

If you’d like to learn more about how you can give your time to prevent and alleviate human suffering in your community go to redcross.org/volunteer.

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One Week Later: A Message of Gratitude

Written by Kyla Campbell

The American Red Cross stands shoulder to shoulder with victims after disaster, whether it's down the street, around the country or across the world.

And this last week, disaster has been down Forney's streets, down Arlington's streets and down Lancaster's streets leaving multiple city's to recover, multiple neighborhoods stunned and one Red Cross to respond.

Listen to our CEO, T.D. Smyers, as he expresses his gratitude for service to everyone who has helped spread our message, volunteer, and give selflessly of time and resources over the last 7 days.

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Piper's New Parents: Caring for the Littlest of Victims

Photo Credit: Ken Riel/American Red Cross
Written by Kyla Campbell

There are moments after each disaster that, as a responder, will stay with you forever.

Today was filled with these moments as we went through Arlington, Texas visiting with kids and finding new parents for a small, stuffed animal named Piper.

Meet Paul, Hannah and Alonzo, today's new parents to Piper the Puppy. 

Paul, 16 months old, may not know what a tornado is but he knows that mom and dad were really nervous. As a result of the storms, he is anxious now too unless he is in his mom's arms. Now he has someone in addition to his mom to cling to, Piper.

Hannah, a 5-year-old, was needing a new friend, according to her mom. When Piper was brought off the truck and placed in Hannah's arms, we knew it was a perfect match. Hannah was home with mom when the tornado hit near Arlington, Texas. "She was super brave and huddled in the tub," said mom. "Now she is a little withdrawn." Mom was certain Piper would help ease the anxiety. We know this Piper was made just for her!

Alonzo was also home with his grandmother when the tornado ripped apart his home. When they approached the Red Cross truck for something to eat and drink today, they didn't know he would leave with a new friend. Piper is certain to feel right at home in his arms tonight.

Each Piper the Puppy delivered today was because someone in our community chose to care about children during disasters.

Piper the Puppy is a program where a Piper becomes a new best friend to a child after disaster rocks their world. After a $100 donation, your name is written on Piper's paw and he is loaded on the truck. Your monetary contribution helps care for the immediate needs of families, while Piper cares for the needs of the littlest victims of disaster.

This stuffed animal is more than button eyes, batting and fuzzy material.

This stuffed animal is love. He is hope during a terrible time. He is a friend to tell fears to. He is a constant, in the face of all the change.

He is Piper the Puppy and he is home tonight.

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Piper the Puppy Comforts Kids

Are you still looking for a way to help your neighbors after last week's tornadoes?

Get to know our Piper the Puppy program and for a $100 donation to disaster relief, you can put Piper in the hands of a child after disaster. Visit Redcrossdallas.org for more information on Piper the Puppy.

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Piper the Puppy Makes Public Debut

It was an exciting day here at the American Red Cross-Dallas Area Chapter as “Piper the Puppy” made his public debut. Suzy Bashore, the idea generator for “Piper the Puppy” and a member of the American Red Cross Tiffany Circle Society of Women Leaders in Dallas, joined local Red Cross volunteers as “Piper the Puppy” was loaded onto an American Red Cross Disaster Relief Vehicle for the first time today.

“Piper the Puppy” is our newest and cutest tool to help local children affected by disaster. For a $100 donation, you can adopt a “Piper the Puppy” to be given out to a child at the next local disaster. As a donor, you can choose to be notified when your “Piper the Puppy” is handed to a child. Not only will your “Piper the Puppy” bring comfort to local children affected by a disaster, it will allow us to provide shelter, three meals, a cot, two blankets and basic hygiene items for one day.

Sponsor your “Piper the Puppy” today and put a smile on a child's face tomorrow!

How Piper the Puppy Works

• You make a $100 donation to the American Red Cross-Dallas Area Chapter.
• The Red Cross writes your name on Piper’s paw and then places him on one of our Disaster Relief Vehicles.
• Volunteers hand out your “Piper the Puppy” to a child affected by a disaster.
• An alert is sent to you when your Piper has been distributed.
• You feel great knowing that your “Piper the Puppy” is being loved by a child in need.

More Photos from Piper's Debut

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American Red Cross to Launch Newest and Cutest Creation to Help the Littlest Disaster Victims

"Piper the Puppy" to make Maiden Voyage on January 19, 2011

WHAT: The American Red Cross in Dallas, Texas is excited to launch “Piper the Puppy”, the newest and cutest tool to help local children affected by home fires. Not only will “Piper the Puppy” bring comfort to kids on the curb after a fire, it will also serve as a new and creative funding stream for the local chapter.

Individuals, corporations, school groups, civic organizations and the like can donate $100 for a “Piper the Puppy” and their name will be written on Piper’s paw. From there, Piper will be placed on a Disaster Relief Vehicle and when the time comes, he will be handed out to a child at a fire scene. Next, the Red Cross will alert the donor that their “Piper the Puppy” was given out. For the Red Cross, funds generated from the adoption of Piper’s could total as much as $150,000 each year, with those dollars supporting disaster relief efforts.

WHERE: "Piper the Puppy” will be loaded onto Red Cross relief trucks for the first time on January 19 at the American Red Cross-Dallas Area Chapter, 4800 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas

WHEN: Wednesday, January 19, 2011, 10:00a.m.-10:30a.m.

VISUALS: “Piper the Puppy” will be loaded onto an American Red Cross Relief Vehicle by Suzy Bashore, the idea generator for “Piper the Puppy” and member of the American Red Cross Tiffany Circle Society of Women Leaders in Dallas. She’ll be assisted by Red Cross volunteers who will likely be handing the first Piper out to a child at a home fire before the end of the day.

BACKGROUND: “Piper the Puppy” is the brainchild of Suzy Bashore, an American Red Cross donor and volunteer in Dallas for the past seven years. Her concept creation will start in Dallas, but is already being adopted by other Red Cross chapters around the nation. Anyone interested in donating $100 towards the “Piper the Puppy” project can go to www.redcrossdallas.org/piper. All donations are used to provide disaster assistance such as food, new clothing, new shoes, hygiene supplies and more to families burned out of their homes.

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