- Eric Brubaker, Red Cross SAF Manager and LTC Robert A. White, OIC Yellow Ribbon Program, take time to pose during Yellow Ribbon Event.
By Hilary Anderson, VISTA member/Communication & Marketing Dept.
Three weeks before being deployed to Afghanistan and other countries around the globe, nearly 600 soldiers and their family members gathered in July at the Westin Hotel near LAX to be briefed on the American Red Cross and other services available to them during their tour of duty.
The July briefing, held specifically for Army reservists, is part of the Dept. of Defense’s Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program, which provides information, services, referrals, and proactive outreach programs to reservists and their families through all phases of the deployment cycle. These include mobilization, sustaining families during mobilization, and reintegrating soldiers with their families, communities and employers upon their return.
Red Cross volunteers were on hand to provide information about how the Red Cross Service to Armed Forces division assists in linking members of the military — stationed anywhere in the world —- with their families during a crisis. Twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, the Red Cross is available to send emergency communications. The Red Cross can also provide financial assistance for specific emergency situations, including burial of a loved one. Attendees of the L.A. event also received personal safety kits and first aid information from volunteers.
Over the course of the summer the Red Cross Los Angeles Region participated in three different Yellow Ribbon Events, reaching 800 soldiers and their families.
Tags: American Red Cross, military families, Service to the Armed Forces, Volunteer, Yellow Ribbon
