• RedCrossPDX VIDEO – Hero Jack the Chihuahua, who saved residents in an Oregon City apartment w/ his growl: http://tr.im/R901
• redcrossny Changing Lives blog story by Sharon Hawa: “Timing is everything.” http://bit.ly/dba7zP
• stlredcross New Blog: Lindsey Weber- Tuesday Trivia: And the Oscar Goes To http://ow.ly/16KYfs
• Federation (Photo of the day) Taking care of traumatized patients in #Haiti : http://bit.ly/awFAHx
• RedCrossSELA Lauren is on Spring Break – then busy recruiting the next round of #AmeriCorps – could that be you? http://tr.im/RbZQ
• redcrossink Armond Mascelli, VP of Operations for ARC Disaster Services has a letter from our government announcing that ARC is NIMS compliant.
• shaunroberts Glad to see HopCo fire depts strengthen accountability standards so that our fire fighters are better protected & fire scenes more efficient
• attiep21 Great article re: ICRC Museum in Geneva – “chacun est responsable de tout devant tous” – http://b2l.me/fdhwd

• Painting a Village (time lapse video for Haiti)
• For scientists, Chile becomes the ideal lab for studying seismic activity
• Our Red Cross tweeters in Haiti: @MatMorgan (American Red Cross), @TimoLue and @Tammamo (International Federation)
• Haiti and the tyranny of technology
• Successfully countering a secular tradition in Rwanda
• Our legacy

See other links we should be aware of? Leave them in the comments.

• National Hurricane Center issues changes for 2010
• Profile of satellite company that set up communication services for us in Haiti
• Google Apps now disaster proof? – from Techrunch
• Calling All the Saints – by Dino Jag
• Don’t Mess with Chile – tees for a cause from DieHard Threads
• Lindsey Vonn skis and poles on auction via Ellen Degeneres for Haiti Relief

Have you seen any interesting mission-related articles we should be reading? Leave the links in the comments.

Happy National Grammar Day! With such an exciting holiday upon us, we thought it’d be interesting to explore the role language plays in the Red Cross’s work. While we’re probably not always perfect stewards of good grammar, we do strive to communicate important life-saving information in a variety of languages.

Whether it’s making a doctor’s appointment or learning where to go in the wake of a disaster, being able to communicate effectively is critical to a person’s safety and well-being.

Take, for example, the Seattle chapter’s Language Bank, and the Greater Richmond Chapter’s Language Bank and check out the Creole speaking Red Cross volunteers who translated for injured Haitians on the USNS Comfort.

If you’re a grammar nerd and have bi or multi-lingual skills, please contact your local chapter and offer to help out.

Welcome to the Weekly Worldwide Wrap-Up, in which we consolidate the international Red Cross and Red Crescent news into one list of bite-sized links for you. It’s a non-comprehensive sampling of the larger and/or more intriguing aspects of our global work…

[The place names link to maps so that you can get a quick idea of the region.]

CHILE: The ICRC has launched a website, www.icrc.org/familylinks, to help people affected by the earthquake restore contact with their loved ones. Red Crossers are on the ground giving aid and also in the air doing aerial assessments. The American Red Cross has increased its pledge to $250,000 and activated mobile giving for Chile – meaning you can now donate $10 by texting “Chile” to 90999.

Today the International Federation for the Red Cross/Red Crescent launched a preliminary $6.4 million emergency appeal for Chile, so we are now able to accept contributions designated for survivors of the February 27 earthquake.

We will also accept designated donations via

• online gifts to redcross.org
• toll-free calls to 1-800-RED CROSS
• toll fee calls to 1-800-257-7575 to make a donation in Spanish

Thank you for your support of the operation in Chile, as well as our ongoing work in Haiti, which will continue for the long term.

You can also follow local Red Cross chapters and blood regions @RedCross/local and individual Red Cross workers @RedCross/people.

With the earthquakes in both Haiti and Chile, we want to let you in on who we follow to keep up with social media tech relief efforts.

Who should we add to the list below? Who are you following on Twitter for humanitarian news?

@dipnote
US State Dept

@USGS
US Geological Society

@KateAtState
Katie J Stanton, Director of Peace and Harmony at the US State Dept

@ushahidi
Crowdsourcing crisis information

@poplifegirl
Heather Blanchard, Crisis Camp leader

@acarvin
Andy Carvin, Crisis Wiki leader

March is Red Cross Month.

That’s right. We have our very own month. Starting with Franklin D Roosevelt in 1943, every sitting President has proclaimed March as Red Cross Month.

What does this mean for you?
March is Red Cross Month is a time to celebrate your great support. Thank you for your generous gifts. You have positively changed people’s lives.

This is also the time, as FDR so eloquently suggested, for Americans to

“rededicate themselves to the splendid aims and activities of the Red Cross.”

We humbly offer a few ways you can do just that.

• Call your local chapter and find out how you can get involved today.
• Find a local blood drive and donate.
• Join us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and LinkedIn
• Right click, save as those sample avatars at the top of this post and use them during March on FB, Twitter, and wherever else you like. Want to make different avatars for us? Go for it! We’d love to see them – leave links to them in the comments of this post.

Tracy Reines, Director of International Response Operations Center, explains what the American Red Cross is up to in the early hours of this response.