Twenty residents of Villa Gardens retirement community in Pasadena were recently invited to visit the historical Cravens House, the American Red Cross San Gabriel Pomona Valley Chapter headquarters, and in return, brought a very special donation to the Red Cross — hand knitted blankets.
The blankets were knitted by members of the Knitters group at Villa Gardens and will be used to keep Red Cross disaster shelter residents warm during cold nights.
The visitors, who also enjoyed tea and a talk about the Red Cross, included long-time Red Cross supporters like Stephen Abrahamson. He spoke about the Red Cross flying him, at no charge, to his dying father’s bedside in Philadelphia when Stephen was in the Army in the South Pacific in 1945. Another Villa Gardens resident said her mother-in-law enlisted the help of the Red Cross during WWII when her son didn’t write to her. The Red Cross told him to write, so he did, and everyone was happy.
Volunteer Charlie Murphy conceived of the event and presented each visitor with a gift-wrapped package of Lorna Doone cookies, since they were invented in 1912! Everyone had a good laugh and a good time.
The main program was a welcome by Director of Development Rachelle Gayl, who gave a tour of the mansion and a talk about the work of the Red Cross locally, nationally and internationally. The group did not know that the local chapter responded to two single-family house fire the previous weekend, and that Holocaust Tracing Services are provided free-of-charge by the Red Cross. They were also told about the Services to the Armed Forces, and that 50 local volunteers are currently in the South and Midwest, helping with the disaster response to the spring storms.
The group was given information by Gift Planning Officer, Amy Gross, about how to consider leaving a legacy of support to the Red Cross through a will or trust, and how to volunteer.
—Amy Gross
