Community Corner

Cupertino Woman Sent By Red Cross To Oklahoma For Tornado Relief

Two more experienced disaster volunteers were dispatched Wednesday to join 25 others providing disaster assistance to hard-hit Oklahoma, which had its second major tornado in a month.

Written by L.A. Chung 

The Silicon Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross is sending a Cupertino woman and a Los Gatos man as additional volunteers to Oklahoma, the organization said Wednesday.

Liz Sabado of Cupertino and Duino Giordano of Los Gatos will join 25 other local volunteers from the Gateway to the Golden State Region of the Red Cross. This includes 13 from the Bay Area Chapter, eight from the Silicon Valley Chapter, and four from the Santa Cruz County Chapter. 

Sabado is an experienced hand at the Red Cross disaster relief. She was honored in 2007 as a Red Cross Volunteer of the Year for her contributions to the Red Cross' Disaster Services Human Resources database, including the communications needs of the disaster services volunteers, and was credited with "making sense out of chaos." Giordano is a retired captain of the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department.

The American Red Cross has been providing people with have a safe place to stay, food to eat, cleaning supplies, health services, and emotional support.  

So far, the Red Cross has served more than 287,000 meals and snacks, many of them prepared by kitchens supported by the Southern Baptist Convention, the organization said in a written statement. Red Cross workers have distributed more than 68,000 relief items, and provided more than 13,600 health services and mental health contacts. 

Those who want to help can make a donation to support American Red Cross Disaster Relief by visiting www.redcross.org or calling 1-800-RED-CROSS. People can also text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Contributions may also be sent to local American Red Cross chapters or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. 

If anyone wants to know about family members or friends, the Red Cross Safe and Well website is available. People with Internet access can register on the site and let loved ones know where they are or call the Red Cross toll-free line to do so.

There are several ways to register on Safe and Well, or search for a loved one. From a computer, visit redcross.org; from a smart phone, visit www.redcross.org/safeandwell or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) to be connected with one’s local Red Cross chapter.


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