The donation from Charlotte TOTW Rotary to our chapter will be allocated to local Emergency Services:

1) Local Disaster Relief - serving local families when displaced from their home due to fire, flooding, or other natural disasters the Red Cross provides them with food, shelter, emergency financial assistance (EFA), personal care, case work and attention. The Greater Carolinas Red Cross responds to on average one local disaster per day, serving thousands of clients a year.

2) Services to Armed Forces (SAF) Families of service members can receive around-the-clock communication networking that connects them with their loved ones. The Red Cross also traces family members and enables communication during war, civil unrest or disasters around the world.

Charlotte TOTW Rotary Club is an uptown Charlotte chapter of Rotary International. The club meets from 7:30-8:30 a.m. on Mondays at TASTE in Founders Hall, 100 North Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28255. Every Monday morning, members of TOTW Rotary gather to celebrate “service above self” and enjoy breakfast, networking and dynamic speakers.
Rotary is a worldwide organization of more than 1.2 million business, professional and community leaders. Members of Rotary clubs, known as Rotarians, provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations and help build goodwill and peace in the world.

Clubs are nonpolitical, nonreligious and open to all cultures, races and creeds. As signified by the motto, “Service Above Self,” Rotary’s main objective is service — in the community, in the workplace, and throughout the world.

Want to Learn More About Rotary?

Locating a club and attending a meeting is the best way to learn about Rotary. 52 clubs meet weekly in this District. Please visit the club page to locate clubs and meeting times near you. Another good thing to do is navigate through the Rotary International website to learn more.

If you are interested in becoming a Rotarian, please contact Mr. Chuck Sawicki, Rotary District 7680 Membership Chair at or 704-334-8202.

Interested in being our sponsor of the month? Contact Amanda Prothero at or 704.347.8238.

An onlooker, Chris, noticed Anna struggling in the water. He was able to pull her to safety and gave her cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Terry Hanson, who works with the John Boy and Billy Show, has a history himself of saving lives through giving CPR.

Hanson heard Chris and Anna’s story and decided to feature them on a segment called “Hero and a Zero.”

He was able to provide some insight into the recent debate over compression-only CPR.

Listen to the broadcast

View our latest press release including a five-year report and how our chapter assisted refugees of Katrina.

We’ve set up a page on our website that showcases the American Red Cross’s impact on survivors of the storm and we encourage you to watch the videos and read our report.

A week ago Friday found me on the other side of our health care system here in Afghanistan. After thinking that I had a really bad case of food poisoning and hours of unbearable pain my co-worker drove me to the Emergency Room here on Bagram. After some tests and a lot of probing and poking a surgeon was called in. He read the CT Scan and a few minutes later I was quickly rolled into the operating room where it was determined that my appendix needed to come out immediately. I truly did not see that one coming and I think I was in shock. The surgeon, anesthiologist, and the operating room nurses were absolutely the best. Two hours later found me in the Intensive Care Ward in a room with 8 soldiers that had gotten hurt during the night in a pretty intense fire fight. (Beds and space are pretty much limited here).

Even though I was given space with curtains surrounding me I knew that these men had given their all and I felt very special being surrounded by them. Lying in that bed we could look at one another and they would give me the thumbs up sign and I would give them a wave. At one time I had to get up and this young soldier looked at me and his eyes got really big and he whispered “Oh my God ma’am they shot you in the stomach?” (my incision had bled so that I had blood on my gown) I told him “No, it was just my appendix, nothing major.” He said with all sincerety “It doesn’t matter ma’am it’s still a war wound.” When I came back to our room five soldiers including the one I had been talking to had been taken to be medevac’d to Lanstuhl, Germany.

I cannot say enough about the quality of care and a genuine feeling of tenderness that was shown me while here at Craig Joint Theater Hospital and there is no place in the world I would have rather been then right here to have had any type of surgery.

I was given the choice to be medevac’d back home or recuperate and finish out my tour here in Afghanistan. It would have placed an undue hardship on the rest of my team leaving them with only three people to continue our mission here, so I have chosen to stay. I am getting stronger every day and am back on light duty, my team members Susanne Harlandt, Michael Jowers, and Scott Grother have taken up the slack and have been there for me and I thank them. My husband Keith already knew the answer when he asked if I was coming home as did my children and family. My husband continues to be my rock and someone I can count on whenever needed and my children and family are always there with unconditional support.

Once again I have seen the other side of what some of our soldiers endure and can only marvel at their faith, strength, and committment. To the hospital staff that see some unbelieavable horrors day after day, it takes some very special people to do what they do and I can only thank them for being there and caring.

We suspected we were not alone among disaster responders in receiving this sort of info so we conducted a survey that indeed proves you are increasingly turning to the social web for help.

Because of this, we’re gathering government, nonprofits, social technologists, and engaged citizens to begin evaluating the increased role of the public in disaster response in the age of the social web.

Please feel free to join us online for our Emergency Social Data Summit from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 12. There are several ways to do this:

1) Visit the NextGen website to see the event via ustream.  This ustream will be archived via The Emergency Social Data blog.

2) Via Twitter and #crisisdata hashtag.  We will be watching and broadcasting this hashtag all day and there will be an official Twitter chat at 1 p.m. EDT.

3) Add your contributions to the Crisis Data wiki.

We’re hosting this event to bring together government agencies, emergency management professionals, disaster response organizations, tech companies and concerned citizens to address how to reply to these digital requests for help more effectively. That means what you bring to this discussion is really important. So we’ve created a variety of ways we can all interact.

The case for integrating crisis response with social media

The online survey asked 1,058 adults about their use of social media sites in emergency situations. It found that if they needed help and couldn’t reach 9-1-1, one in five would try to contact responders through a digital means such as e-mail, websites or social media. If web users knew of someone else who needed help, 44 percent would ask other people in their social network to contact authorities, 35 percent would post a request for help directly on a response agency’s Facebook page and 28 percent would send a direct Twitter message to responders.

Social Media in Disasters and EmergenciesWeb users also have clear expectations about how first responders should be answering their requests. The survey showed that 69 percent said that emergency responders should be monitoring social media sites in order to quickly send help—and nearly half believe a response agency is probably already responding to any urgent request they might see.

And the survey respondents expected quick response to an online appeal for help—74 percent expected help to come less than an hour after their tweet or Facebook post.

“The first and best choice for anyone in an emergency situation is to call 9-1-1,” said Gail McGovern, American Red Cross president and CEO. “But when phone lines are down or the 9-1-1 system is overwhelmed, we know that people will be persistent in their quest for help and use social media for that purpose.”

The Red Cross commissioned the survey in advance of an Emergency Social Data Summit set for Thursday, August 12, in Washington, D.C. The meeting, convened by the Red Cross, will bring together thought leaders and experts in the government, social media, emergency response and the non-profit sectors to discuss better ways to handle information that flows through the web during disasters.

“The social web is creating a fundamental shift in disaster response—one that will ask emergency managers, government agencies and aid organizations to mix time-honored expertise with real-time input from the public,” McGovern said. “We need to work together to better respond to that shift.”

The Red Cross survey also found that among web users, social media sites are the fourth most popular source for emergency information, just behind television news, radio and online news sites. More web users say they get their emergency information from social media than from a NOAA weather radio, government website or emergency text message system. One in five social media users also report posting eyewitness accounts of emergency events to their accounts.

(Editorial Note: Please contact the Red Cross media team at (202) 303-5551 for more information about the Emergency Social Data Summit or to speak with an expert about the survey.)

Online Survey of 1,058 respondents representative of the U.S. population aged 18 and older. Survey conducted on July 22-23, 2010 by Infogroup | ORC.

PAKISTAN: The ICRC is providing training in first aid for journalists from Pakistan working in violence-affected areas.

IRAQ: The ICRC is helping more than 64,000 destitute Iraqis through the holy month of Ramadan by providing them with food and hygiene items.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO: The ICRC and the Red Cross Society of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have begun to distribute food to 53,000 people who have fled their villages because of violence since mid-July. Meanwhile the ICRC recently reunited 14 Congolese children with their families.

AFGHANISTAN: Heavy flooding in conflict-affected northern and western Afghanistan has forced thousands to flee their homes and seek shelter elsewhere. The ICRC and the Afghan Red Crescent provided emergency aid for more than 40,000 people – many of them in dangerous or remote areas – in May and June.

CHINA: In response to some of the worst flooding in decades, the Red Cross Society of China has been distributing emergency supplies including tents, quilts, rice and drinking water.

SRI LANKA: As thousands of people return home to damaged or destroyed houses after the fighting, the German Red Cross is working with the The Sri Lanka Red Cross Society and IFRC to build new homes and repair damage to others.

GLOSSARY:
ICRC = International Committee of the Red Cross
IFRC = International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

To say thank you to all of our committed blood donors, the American Red Cross and Red Cross Racing are giving away a brand new 2011 Ford Fiesta, thanks to a generous donation by the Ford Motor Company.

Make sure to fill out all fields in the entry form and good luck from the Red Cross Racing team!

CHINA: The Red Cross Society of China has stepped up efforts to assist millions of people affected by floods.

KYRGYZSTAN: As tensions continue, the ICRC continues to assist internally displaced people and detainees, and help families find out what happened to missing loved ones.

HAITI: The Haitian National Red Cross Society has begun broadcasting their first ever radio show from Red Cross Red Crescent base camp in Port-au-Prince, engaging listeners in a two-way conversation about needs and services.

PHILIPPINES: Early warning systems enabled the Philippines Red Cross to prepare its chapters for Typhoon Conson. Staff and volunteers responded immediately after the disaster, helping people to reach the evacuation centres and providing hot meals from mobile kitchens.

GLOSSARY:
ICRC = International Committee of the Red Cross
IFRC = International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

ERITREA: The Red Cross Society of Eritrea is helping to bring hope to people in parched regions with sustainable projects like solar water pumps and volunteer-built water collection systems.

BELARUS: The Belarus Red Cross is reaching out to youth and young workers about HIV prevention.

PHILIPPINES: Nine months after the tsunamis, the IFRC has built cyclone-resistant transitional housing for more than 600 families, and the building continues.

HAITI: Marking the six-month point after the earthquake, the ICRC has honoured three extraordinary healthcare heroes. For the six-month progress report and more on Haiti, visit http://www.redcross.org/haiti.

GLOSSARY:
ICRC = International Committee of the Red Cross
IFRC = International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies