The American Red Cross of Colorado and Wyoming takes great pride in knowing that the Red Cross mission continues to grow more robust every year because of the generous spirit, dedication and incredible engagement of Red Cross supporters. Volunteers work hard to support those affected by everyday disasters, deploying in support of disaster relief operations both right here in Colorado as well as other states, by helping our communities prepare for emergencies AND by continuing to serve our men and women in uniforms and their families.
Last month, the Red Cross of Mile High, a chapter of the Red Cross of Colorado and Wyoming, gathered to conduct their Annual Meeting, celebrate wins from the last fiscal year and the volunteers who made the wins possible.
A Few Highlights for Fiscal Year 2024
The Mile High Chapter (MHC) launched blood collections for the first time as a core service delivery, following the successful volunteer blood delivery program led by Suzanne Faerber. This is the first time that the Red Cross has built a blood collections service from scratch in a region.
Under the leadership of Geno Martinez and Diana Dalager, MHC was the first Red Cross chapter within the interior of the United States to support our government partners as they determined the best way to support migrants who had made their way into Denver.
The MHC continues to have one of the most solid relationships with Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) in the Denver area. Led by the amazing Meredith Ballentine, the MHC chapter has active personnel embedded into the MEPS. This creates a Red Cross relationship with these mostly young men and women as they enter their military careers.
The Colorado and Wyoming region increased the overall racial and ethnic diversity of our Regional Volunteer team from 22% in Fiscal Year 2023 to nearly 25 percent. The MHC is leading the way and over the last 365 days, 33% of our new volunteers are racially or ethnically diverse thanks to the dedication and welcoming spirit of our volunteer recruitment and screening teams.
The Fund Development team hosted the Red Cross of Colorado and Wyoming Rocky Mountain Heroes Soireé in April. The event not only raised a tremendous amount of important funds for the mission, but also gave us the opportunity to tell the Red Cross story.
2024 Annual Meeting
The purpose of the Annual Meeting is to elect candidates to serve the Board of Directors. Mark Mathews, the outgoing Chair of the MHC Board of Directors led the meeting and conducted the vote to induct five new candidates to serve the board and five candidates seeking a second term
The MHC Board of Directors and those attending the meeting unanimously voted to recommend approval for the membership of all ten individuals.
Welcome Board
Welcome, 1st term Board Members of the American Red Cross of Mile High!
- Lauren Gilliland, Xcel Energy
- Uche Ejiasa, Newmont Corporation
- Jaelynn Williams, Air Methods
- Dr. Nolan Wessel, MD, University of Colorado School of Medicine
- Alex Lewis, Visible and former Chair of the Red Cross Associate Board
Welcome, 2nd term Board Members of the American Red Cross of Mile High!
- Teena Bergstrand, Saunders Construction
- Sarah Sandberg, Tallgrass Energy
- Patsy Landaveri, Impacto
- Ellen Weaver, Kaiser Permanente
- Pete Lorenzen, Volunteer
Welcome and Congratulations to the new MHC Board Chair, Sam Knaizer.
Goodby and Thank You
Gino Greco, CEO of the American Red Cross of Colorado and Wyoming took this opportunity to thank board members who finished their board service at the end of Fiscal Year 2024.
A huge thank you to
- Steve Gawlik
- Jill Elwood
- Dan Davidson
- Carrie Hudak
- Randy Schrader
- Lori O’flaherty
- Mark Matthews
Volunteer Appreciation
The next part of the celebration was the award presentations to outstand volunteers. Teena Bergstrand, MHC Board Member and member of the Volunteer Awards Selection Committee lead the next part of the celebration, the award presentations to outstanding volunteers.
- Mandie Mercer, Service to the Armed Forces Case Worklead
- Marvinetta Hartwig, Volunteer Partner to Fund Development Events Coordinator, Dani Mulhern
- Jacklyn Moore
- Diana Halley, Service to the Armed Forces Volunteer
- Evan Holland, Disaster Action Team Supervisor, Shelter Service Associate, Workforce Engagement team member
- Gary Dolsen, Disaster Action Team Volunteer, Leadership Team, Volunteer Advisory Council Member
- DJ Sasso, Disaster Health Services, Pet in Shelter Program
- Scott Murphy and Harry Ladewig, Mile High Emergency Response Vehicle Lead Team
- Service to the Armed Forces Casework Team
- Kim Mailes, Mile High Chapter- Public Affairs Storyteller Lead, Disaster Public Affairs Manager, Volunteer Services’ Leadership Development Training Team
- Andrea Gold, Wyoming Chapter
- Bill Howell, Northern Colorado Chapter
- Clark Buck, Western Colorado Chapter
- Marlene Schulze, Southeastern Colorado Chapter
- Michael Fox, Ambassador Team Lead
- Sarah Smith, Disaster Action Team Coordinator for the MHC.
Diana Dalager
Sarah Sandberg, MHC Board Member
Shrreya Sethuramalingam, Co-president of the Cherry Creek High School Red Cross Club
Geno Martinez, Mass Care Co-Lead
Suzanne Faerber
- Mile High Chapter ERV Lead from 2015-2018,
- SWARM Divisional ERV Lead from 2018-2020 (and still the Lead Back-up 2020-present)
- Regional Logistics Supply Lead currently
- Biomed Transportation Lead from 2019-up to the current moment
John Miller, Serveral Disaster Cycle Service Leadership positions
Volunteers makeup 90% of the workforce at the American Red Cross. Our work is possible because of their time, talent, treasure and passion. Interested in becoming a Red Cross volunteer, click here!