Honoring a Red Cross Hero

Thank you, Albina. We Will Miss You

Written by Catherine Carlton, Volunteer Contributor

We lost one of our own last month. Albina Young, a long-time Red Cross volunteer, passed away at the age of 100. 

She spent the majority of her life doing what all of us hope to be able to say about ourselves: she loved and she helped others.

Albina was married for 75 years to her loving husband, Robert. And she spent 67 years selflessly volunteering with the American Red Cross. Her tenure started during World War II by knitting sweaters for soldiers. She did this from the Production Room in Dallas, Texas. If you stop by there today, you’ll see a quilt hanging on the wall indicating it’s “Albina’s Production Room.” 

After the war, the need for sweaters and socks for soldiers had quieted so Albina and her crew began knitting for babies at Parkland and Children's hospitals. They met weekly in the Production Room and engaged home-bound volunteers by delivering materials, picking up finished booties and caps, and then delivering them to children in need. 

When Albina and Bob could no longer drive, they continued to volunteer from their retirement home. At the age of 99, Albina reluctantly retired from her Red Cross service. 

She is described by her Red Cross family as “dedicated, strong, vibrant, confident and capable.” 

“She was born in 1911, the same year the chapter began, which is remarkable,” said Susie Spartano, director of volunteer services for the Red Cross. “She received a 55-year pin and several other awards from the Red Cross and other agencies for her service to the community.”

“When I first began working here, Albina was 89. She was full of fire and full of energy. She was gung ho,” Susie continued. “She could run the production room with complete confidence. Every week for years and years she had a staff of four or five volunteers who would sew under her guidance. She is inspiring.”

Albina’s family has honored her dedication to the Red Cross by requesting that memorial donations from friends and family be made to the American Red Cross. While writing this story, we learned that Bob has now joined Albina. He passed away on Christmas Eve. We are a better organization because of their service. Our heart goes out to the Young family as we also miss this tremendous couple each time we pass her Production Room. 

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Red Cross Connects Cousins – 76 Years Later

Elizabeth "Lily" Farkas was one of millions of people separated from her family amid the chaos and confusion of World War II. But thanks to a Red Cross search across international borders, she and a cousin connected after many decades.



Lily, who now lives in Sarasota, was a teenager in Hungary during the war, and recalled those as "God awful" times.



In 1945, the Russians came in to liberate Hungary from the Nazis, but when the Communists took over in 1949, liberation became domination and the Hungarian government was subordinate to Soviet control.



Hungarian students began demonstrating against the Communist government in 1956 but the Soviets sent in tanks and troops and defeated the Hungarian freedom fighters.Thousands of people died, more than 26,000 were put on trial, about 13,000 were imprisoned and about 300 were executed. Nearly 200,000 refugees escaped into Austria or Yugoslavia and eventually started new lives in other parts of the world.



Lily participated in the Hungarian Revolution and worked underground. She served 2 1/2 years as a political prisoner in Budapest and a prison in northeastern Hungary. Her husband, Imre, was sentenced to death but his sentence was later commuted to life in prison.



In 1956 Imre and other prisoners broke out of an infamous political prison in Vac, Hungary, three days after the revolution started. Imre and Lily were reunited in Budapest and arrived in the United States on Christmas Eve 1956. They have since had two daughters and three grandchildren who live in Holland.



Although Mrs. Farkas lost touch with her family in Hungary, a second cousin – Judit Bojthy Hajda – contacted the Red Cross to help locate her long lost relative after 76 years.



Cindy Desmond, Director of Volunteers, Client Services and Training for the Southwest Florida Chapter of the American Red Cross, spoke with Lily to inform her that her second cousin wanted to connect with her. Red Cross family tracing services help reconnect families who have been separated internationally by war and natural disasters.



"At first, Lily was hesitant," said Cindy. "Then the memories started to come back."



Now Lily corresponds with her second cousin, talking on the phone and sending photos to each other over the internet.



There are American Red Cross caseworkers at local chapters around the United States helping families locate missing relatives by working with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Red Cross and Red Crescent organizations in nearly every country around the world.



Once a family member is found, the Red Cross helps them reconnect. In the past year, the American Red Cross helped reconnect more than 4,200 families – bridging years of separation to renew critical links between new communities in the U.S. and their families around the world.



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