Chapter Newsletter

LOCAL RED CROSS NAMES PHILANTHROPIST OF YEAR

Left to Rigth: Executive Director Mary Dooley, Iowa Rivers Chapter Philanthropist of the year Andrew Stangeland, and Chairperson Shiela Kielly

MARSHALLTOWN, Sept. 6 — The American Red Cross Iowa Rivers Chapter last week honored Andrew Stangeland of rural Marshalltown with their first-ever “Philanthropist of the Year” award.

Mary Dooley, Iowa Rivers Chapter executive director, presented the award at the chapter’s major donor recognition event.  Held on the north patio of Fisher Community Center, the event was attended by nearly 50 Red Cross supporters.

“In the past, we have received many bequests that have made this chapter as strong as it is,” Dooley said in presenting the award.  “Unfortunately because we didn’t know about them in advance, we couldn’t thank those donors.  I’m so pleased that this year, we can say ‘Thank-you’ to Andrew Stangeland, whose gift will continue to support Red Cross programs and services beyond his lifetime.”

A regular financial donor for more than a decade, Stangeland took an extra step last year to ensure his continued support.  The $10,000 annuity that he purchased will provide interest income to him annually; upon his death the annuity will benefit the Iowa Rivers Chapter.

Dooley thanked all of the donors for supporting the chapter’s life-saving programs, noting that since the Red Cross is a humanitarian organization, not a government entity, it depends on people’s gifts.  The event itself illustrated that concept, with everything donated, from the food to the decorations. Jan Adams, Development Director, and her committee of volunteers chaired by Susan Weaver transformed the patio into an Italian-style setting, in keeping with the “Touch of Tuscany” theme.  Mary Giese’s string quartet, “Solstice,” donated their talents to provide live background music.

Attendees included American Red Cross Honor Society members who give annually at the $100-plus level and Clara Barton Society members who give $1,000 and above. There are many ways to make sure that Red Cross programs and services are available in our communities, according to Dooley, including annual financial contributions, multi-year pledges, gifts of stocks, annuities and bequests.

The American Red Cross is where people mobilize to help their neighbors—across the street, across the country and across the world—in emergencies. Each year, in communities large and small, victims of some 70,000 disasters turn to neighbors familiar and new—the nearly 1 million volunteers and 35,000 employees of the Red Cross. Through more than 800 locally supported chapters, more than 15 million people gain the skills they need to prepare for and respond to emergencies in their homes, communities and world. Some 4 million people give blood—the gift of life—through the Red Cross, making it the largest supplier of blood and blood products in the United States. The Red Cross helps thousands of U.S. service members separated from their families by military duty stay connected. As part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, a global network of more than 180 national societies, the Red Cross helps restore hope and dignity to the world's most vulnerable people. An average of 91 cents of every dollar the Red Cross spends is invested in humanitarian services and programs. The Red Cross is not a government agency; it relies on donations of time, money, and blood to do its work.