Former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge came to Philadelphia and spent time at the SEPA Chairman's Cabinet talking about key preparedness issues with our senior leadership team. Following that roundtable discussion, Ridge keynoted a 400 businessperson Preparedness Summit co-engineered by the Greater Philadelphia Chamber and this Chapter on Friday, May 11.

We just finished an extraordinary Memorial Day weekend with:

• Our emergency services staff and volunteers out caring for 79 people (22 of them children) late Friday night and all day Saturday after a Strawberry Mansion-area fire (just one of the 12 fires to which we responded in the first 36 hours of the Memorial Day weekend),
• 64 blood volunteers on hand over the weekend to help with 12 bloodmobiles, which together generated over 1200 pints of blood and,
• Two Red Cross testimonial op-eds in seven different local papers (Celebrating Red Cross Month & Celebrating National Volunteer Week).

Fire season, the name once reserved for the cold weather months, clearly knows no time limits in Philadelphia as we have seen this spring. The number and magnitude of fires have put our city Disaster Action Teams (DAT) to the test. As a result, we're taking all possible steps to increase our DAT membership.

In an effort to comply with national guidelines and follow appropriate policy and procedure, we are asking you to assist us in maintaining the high standards that ARC SEPA has come to expect from its staff and volunteers.

Hurricane season begins June 1, and weather experts are predicting a busy season in the coming months. Climatologists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center say there is a 75 percent chance that the 2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season will be above normal.

When disasters occur throughout the country, SEPA volunteers respond to calls for help.

The Emergency Services Department congratulates our six newly certified disaster services instructors. After completing 16 hours of training, all six successfully graduated from the Disaster Instructor Specialty Training.

The Emergency Services department is looking for people to develop their skills in either logistics, mass care or disaster assessment. As part of a new initiative, ES is developing three teams to focus on these three key areas, particularly geared towards response to a large disaster.

On Thursday, May 17, 2007, City Disaster Action Team members took a field trip to the 9-1-1 Communications Center located on 3rd and Spring Garden in place of the regular monthly meeting held at Chapter.

On May 9, 10, and 11 the American Red Cross welcomed 155 nursing students and professors from Drexel University College of Nursing and Health Professions.

Growing up understanding the importance of volunteering, I wanted a constant volunteer opportunity and found it at the American Red Cross in 2005. My first experience with the Red Cross was at training, and it was there that I signed up to become a volunteer.

The birthday of Henri Dunant, the founder of the Red Cross, was celebrated around the world and at American Red Cross chapters, from SEPA to San Francisco on May 8. The day was an opportunity to thank the volunteers who make the Red Cross the largest humanitarian organization in the world, with 97 million volunteers worldwide.

On Sunday, June 3, the Dave Magrogan Group is hosting "THE BIG GIVE," a mega charity event taking place at all Kildare's locations and Doc Magrogan's Oyster House in West Chester, PA. The event will kick off at 12 noon, with live bands, drink specials, celebrities, and a charity auction.