Newsletter

President's MESSAGE:

Hey all my Youth Council Lovelies!! My name, as most of you know, is Kavitha Joseph (a.k.a. Shorty Spice), and I am a senior at University High! I cannot tell you how excited I am about this coming year with the Red Cross. This will be my third and last year on the Executive Board for Youth Council, and I look forward to a prosperous, far-reaching, and crazy-fun twelve months. I was so happy with how well the first Youth Council meeting went and so glad to see all the bright and shining faces of Youth Council members filling the room. This year is going to be better than ever with fun-filled events, socials, and service projects. The Executive Board this year wants to reach out to Youth Council members more than it has done in the past. We want to be approachable, helpful people whom you can always call on for advice, assistance, or support. Do not hesitate to call us for anything!! I challenge you to attend all Youth Council meetings and events and to donate your time and energy to the Red Cross to make a difference not only in your life, but also in the lives of others. With the backing and determination of the Executive Board and Youth Council members, we will touch more lives and help more people than we ever have before.

David Mourra:
Hey Red Crossers! I'm the Y-HAVE Liaison for this yearr and I am also a senior at Foothill HS. I have been volunteering with the Orange County Red Cross for 4 years. I have also been a member of the Youth HIV/AIDS Volunteer Educators for 4 years and hope to continue volunteering after high school. I am hoping for another great year for Y-HAVE as it is currently preparing for its first annual It's All about YOUth World AIDS Day Conference! Scheduled for December 2, the day after World AIDS Day, the conference will offer a fun-filled afternoon at University High School for teenage youth interested in learning more about HIV by attending workshops ranging from the issue of sex in the media to HIV as a cultural problem. In addition to the conference, Y-HAVE is working on a Disney-funded brochure to assist it in stopping the spread of HIV and AIDS. Any artistically oriented individuals interested in joining Y-HAVE or making the brochure are encouraged to contact me or the wonderful Y-HAVE Specialist, Nanelle Petrocik.

Anu Mainthia:
Hi all you Red Cross members! I am Anu, YiES liaison, and I am sure that before you make the decision to actively participate in YiES, you will want to know what it is. So, YiES is basically an acronym for Youth in Emergency Services. In YiES we focus on community awareness of disaster preparedness and community safety. Our main activity is YiES training, which runs the course of an entire weekend. During the Saturday and Sunday of the training any youth is welcome to come to learn about disaster safety and become trained in CPR and First Aid. Each person in attendance then becomes Red Cross certified and is put on a master roster, so in the event of an emergency they can be called upon to assist in the disaster. Don't worry; these trainings will happen about four times during the course of a year, so there are plenty of opportunities to become Red Cross certified. Our first training was on October 28 and 29 at University High School in Irvine. But YiES trainings aren't all we do. We also participate in disaster fairs and put on puppet shows for young children. Cause for Alarm is another event that YiES takes part in conjunction with the Fire Departments of Orange County. During Cause for Alarm events, the Red Cross offers tenants of apartment houses new fire alarms. Interested now? Well, I sure hope so! Now I hope you will say YES to YiES!

Chris Mayhew:
Hello my fellow Red Crossers. My name is Chris Mayhew, and I'll be filling in a new position this year as the technology liaison. I'll be building and maintaining a site with all the current information on upcoming Red Cross events. It should be beneficial to everyone who wishes to use it. Anyways, enough about my job. I'm a complete web site nerd. That's what I do, make web sites for money. When I'm not doing that, I'm doing school or playing on my new turntables. I enjoy listening to a lot of dance music, hanging with my friends, and watching wrestling (it's true, it's true). This year, I hope to set a substantial standard for the following tech liaisons, providing a beneficial resource to everyone involved in the youth program.

Michael:
Hi everyone! My name is Michael Chang and I, like everyone else, am a senior at Fountain Valley High School. This year, I will be serving as the Public Relations Director for Youth Council. Generally, I'll be promoting all the programs and events that we're having by assisting everyone with whatever they need. Anyways, outside of Red Cross, I'm generally a nerd so I tend to study too much and spend too much time at school. I'm also very involved with the National Honor Society and Amnesty International, and I'm currently working on reviving the literary magazine at my school. I generally like journalism and working with layouts, so I am also serving as the state Newsletter Editor for the California Association of Student Councils. Aside from school and activities, however, I enjoy watching television (mostly commercials), staring blankly at the wall, vegetating, and above all, sleeping. I also like going out with my friends, but I don't do much of that. I'm a nerd, remember? Anyways, I think that's all about me. This year, I hope to be able to answer any questions you may have about the Red Cross and to increase participation in all of the Youth Program's activities.

Ann:
Hi, my name is Ann Nguyen and I'm a senior at Fountain Valley High School. This year, I'll be serving as LDC Liaison on the Executive Board. My goal for this year is to organize tons of fun activities for LDC and Jr. LDC. I want to let you guys know that you can come up to me anytime and consult me about anything. I will do my best to help you guys with whatever you may need. It could be anything from LDC stuff to organizing a project at your club, or even helping you with your Calculus homework. As the slogan is for the Red Cross, "I'll be there." For those of you who have gone to LDC or Jr. LDC, I would like to extend an invitation to you to join the LDC Committee to help organize all the fun get-togethers that we're going to have and to participate in all the reunions this year. For those of you who haven't attended LDC, I hope to see you this summer at LDC 2001!!! It's going to be a memorable experience.

Priya:
Hey everyone! My name's Priya and I am your Newsletter Editor. My job is to keep you informed about Red Cross events and news. I hope, with the help of my wonderful newsletter committee, to publish a newsletter every couple of months. The newsletter will include international news, Orange County RC Chapter news, and school RC club news. If you have any Red Cross information that you think would be beneficial for people to know, please contact me, and I'll see if I can publish it. Anyways, outside of the Red Cross, I am a junior at University High School. In my spare time I go out with friends, roller blade, and watch classic movies (I'm a huge movie buff). By the way, if you have any questions, feel free to call me at any time. I am really excited about the wonderful year we have ahead of us.

University:
The UHS Red Cross Club's membership has grown substantially, doubling that of last year's! So far this year, our club has participated in several events including the helping to set up and direct the Diabetes Walk at UCI, tearing down forts at the local Adventure Playground, and walking retired greyhounds at the local Hemopet. In October, we visited a senior center and participated in the annual Heart and Sole Classic. At the end of the month, we hosted the first YiES training of the school year, which was very exciting.
Over the summer, we visited the Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter and helped to put on some birthday parties for underprivileged kids, and we went to the KLOS blood drive, and had eleven people from our school go to LDC this summer. (LDC forever!)
I am glad to say that we have a very enthusiastic and creative board this year, and that should help motivate people to become more involved with the community as a whole. We have just decided on our focuses for the coming year, which include the community (including disaster preparedness, education/ literacy, and senior citizens), diseases (including putting on AIDS week at our school), the environment, children, and hunger and poverty. We hope to expand awareness at Uni, and are looking forward to an exciting, innovative, and memorable year!

Foothill
Foothill Red Cross Club participates on the Orange County chapter level, along with hosting two blood drives a year. The current presidents are Albert Montenegro and Karen Tong, along with a powerful cabinet and a group of extremely active members. Our very own David Mourra is apart of the Youth Council E-Board as a Y-HAVE Liaison. Several of our members have gone through 20 hours of Y-HAVE Training, and are quite active in giving the HIV/AIDS presentations. Red Cross has a great notoriety on campus among students and staff members as well. This fall, we're planning on participating in the Y-HAVE Tennis Tournament fundraiser, encouraging members to go through the Y.i.E.S. Training, and preparing to host a
blood drive this winter. Our club shows great promise in making a huge difference in the community this year!
-Karen Tong, Co-President of Foothill High School Red Cross

Irvine
IHS - Since school just started about a month ago, our club is just coming together. We've had two meetings, and from the three years I've been involved, I'm happy to say that we've recruited many more members. Basically, we are working on the same projects as the Youth Council. However, an interesting thing that we are doing is a canned food drive run by all the clubs of the school. Also, our club is also planning to adopt a family through Families Forward.

Laguna Hills
Vive LHHS Red Cross Club!!!
While leaping over many hurdles of obstacles, Laguna Hills High School Red Cross Club is reviving itself. Over the years, RCC at LHHS hasn't been much success, but the new spirited leaders, Ariel Johnson along with Peter Phung, Lisa Higuchi, Ni-kon Chen, Kevin Kowashita, Steve Ryan and Mike Ryan are determined to make a difference. With the help of our advisor, Mr. Herron, we are expected to run a clothes drive in early December, help out at local homeless shelters, and hold several fundraisers to boost the club's financial situation. Along with helping out the chapter, the officers are looking to have tons of fun with their members. "We want to try to give a helping hand and boost the spirit at our School," explains Peter Phung. The RCC at LHHS is always searching for new projects to set up; for example, the Random Act of Kindness Week (Nov. 7-14) will be sponsored by RCC at LHHS. "If you have any suggestions we are always open," exclaimed Ariel, president of RCC, "so don't be afraid to comment or advise." With all this said, nothing but improvement is expected from RCC.

Loara
The Loara Red Cross Club is designed to encourage the student body to participate in American Red Cross activities. Presently, the utmost task for the officers is to promote the Red Cross club among the students. Moreover, the blood drives at our school will be announced to provide blood to those in need. Our second goal is to participate in more Red Cross events and to encourage more members to help others. Through innovative, fun activities, we hope that members will become aware, not only of themselves, but of the community they live in. Currently facing low turnouts at club meetings, we plan to target more members. How are we going to do it? Well, by publicizing the club during the Silent Sustain Reading in various classrooms on the day of our 1st official meeting. If you have any suggestions or comments, please feel free to contact our lead president, Lan le at lanle09@yahoo.com.

Troy High School
By James Buenaventura
With high hopes and aspirations, Sherry Lin and I plan to make this year's Red Cross Club a highly productive and
successful one. In order to promote among the clubs in the chapter, we have collaborated with Esperanza High School to create various social events throughout the year. Additionally, several of our members belong to the Rio Hondo Red Cross Chapter, and we hope to take advantage of this opportunity to extend the scope of our
club. Knowing that the majority of our events are dependant on what happens at the Chapter, we are attempting to create special events solely specific to Troy. Last month, the club worked in conjunction with other school clubs, ASB
and Kaiser Permanente to promote a Halloween Fair especially for students in Special Education; the goal of the fair was to provide a safe and fun environment to trick-or-treat in. Collaborations with other clubs, chapters and events are merely the beginning. Through our new ideas and activities, we hope our members will have a fun and exciting year in Troy High School's Red Cross Club.

Villa Park
As a fresh school year begins, the year for the Red Cross Club at Villa Park High School looks promising. A combined Board of both old and new officers, our 2000-2001 Board is eager to undertake two main goals for this year: expanding the prevalence of the club on campus and increasing the attendance at all Red Cross events. During the past few years, members
realized how rewarding each event is throughout the year, but an all-out effort to seek new membership will be something new.
Many efforts have been made to familiarize the Red Cross Club's name on campus and to make students aware of all the club has to offer. The truth is that events like the Holiday Project do touch our members greatly, so the largest compliment is when new members refer their friends to the club. The more other students see Red Cross active on campus, the more inspiring it is
for them to join and encouraging it is for veteran members. Mainly, Board members have been trying to reach out to new members. One-on-one encouragement with other members has been really successful in
boosting attendance. This past year, VPHS hosted three blood drives on campus and the turnout for volunteers was tremendous. Buddy the Blood Drop even made a surprise guest appearance at one of our pep rallies with our ASB President. Many new members were gained through the biannual Y-HAVE presentations held in freshman Health classes, as well through sign ups at a booth at Registration, through which membership increased by 20%! Club Rush, at which pizza was generously donated by Papa Johns, was a great success this year; the pizza sold out in the first five minutes of lunch. There is still a lot of
work ahead, but the future for Red Cross Club looks bright at VPHS.

Esperanza
"My proudest accomplishment has been, in general, my involvement with the Red
Cross. I love the way they emphasize diversity and unity, and through it,
I've grown in ways I never could any way else. I've met so
many interesting and special people and strengthened bonds with those I
already knew. I hope that during my last year, I'll get to meet even more
new people and I don't doubt that I will."
-Janet Lin
This year the Esperanza Red Cross Club plans on doing more service projects and obtaining more opportunities for club members. We're trying to balance the projects hosted by the chapter with our own. For November, our club plans on helping out in a soup kitchen around Thanksgiving and delivering a couple thousand cranes made last year to a children's hospital. In December, we expect a big turnout for the Holiday Project again. Last year we had lots of success with the cookie decoration table. For fundraisers, our club is considering book drives, penny drives, and holding a charity basketball tournament sometime around April. Aside from the service projects coming from the Chapter, we have a number of tentative ideas planned for the future, but nothing has been set in stone. We are also hoping that, if the opportunity arises, we can collaborate with other schools on projects this year.
Senior Rep.: Michael Ho

El Modena Brian Kim
We just kicked off our Red Cross Club's second year at El Modena High School. Although our club is young, we had a successful turnout at Club Rush and a good turnout at our first few meetings. With a dedicated board and many new recruits, we look forward to a successful year.

Blood Shortages
by Peony Liu
Since September of this year, the blood supply in the United States has been dangerously low. While the critical minimum blood inventory is 50,000 units, the American Red Cross, contributor of nearly half the nation's blood supply, had but 36,000 units. Although these numbers may seem rather large, the fundamental fact remains that one major surgery may need up to thirty units of blood. Once calculated, it becomes apparent that only a few surgeries can be undertaken. Ideally, the American Red Cross likes to have around 80,000 units of blood. This number is derived from the fact that blood is in more demand than it ever has been-Red Cross distributes more than 16,800 units to hospitals nationwide each day. At this rate, blood goes fast, but the number of willing donors has gone dismally down. Dr. Celso Bianco, the former president of America's Blood Centers, says, "One group of regular donors over the past few decades has been the 'World War II' generation. But now, the number of eligible donors from this group has shrunk considerably… If every eligible donor gave blood just once a year, blood shortages would end." Whether or not this is entirely accurate is not known, since ninety-five percent of eligible donors don't donate. This alarming statistic has led various Red Cross Blood Services regions to sound the panic alarm.
Many surgeries have been postponed as a result of blood shortages, and according to Dr. Bernadine Healy, Red Cross President and CEO, this should not be happening. "We couldn't practice modern medicine without blood. Patients should never have to worry whether there will be enough blood (for their operations)," she comments. Blood is not just used by people who suffer from, say, sickle-cell anemia or major accidents. Every type of operation utilizes outside blood, including some common surgeries such as amputations. In fact, statistics show that seventy-six percent of Americans expect that blood will be available when they need it. Yet, seventy-two percent of them also underestimate the existing demand for blood. In the case of eleven-year-old Andy Polhamus, an available twenty-six units of blood saved his life. Luckily, his major bicycling accident did not happen when the blood supply was as low as it is now. However, this is not the case for thousands of other organ recipients and surgery-ridden victims. One patient had to pass up three available matching livers because there was not enough blood available to use during the operation. While the patient did finally receive the much-needed liver, the wait was a long and agonizing one. Such is the case of many other transplant candidates in the United States. Hundreds of patients may be waiting for enough blood to undergo life-saving surgeries. High school students have helped greatly to contribute to the supply, but the Red Cross can always use more. To make an appointment, please call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE, or 1-800-4483-5433. Seventeen-year-old donors need parental permission, but all other donors need to be at least 110 pounds and in good health. Call today, and give the "gift of life".

World AIDS Day
On December 2, 2000, the day after World AIDS Day, Y-HAVE (Youth HIV and AIDS Volunteer Educators) is going to host its first annual World AIDS Day "It's All About YOUth" Conference. Held at University High School from 1:00 to 7:00 P.M., the conference will consist of two sessions, each offering a variety of workshops focusing on issues such as media manipulation, drugs and alcohol, gay and lesbian issues, and peer pressure. The conference, beginning with a Y-HAVE presentation, will be topped off with a Candlelight Vigil. Don't miss this fun-filled event; be sure to register as soon as possible!!!

LDC 2000
by John Nguyen
If a person only does one thing in his or her life, going to LDC (Leadership Development Center) is an absolute must! I even swear on my mother's grave, going to LDC will CHANGE everybody's whole perspective on life. LDC will make everybody a BETTER person. I cannot stress how important it is to go to LDC; this is the place where you WILL WITNESS a completely different world. This world is the BEST example of what Earth would be like if everybody lived in peace, harmony, and happiness. In this world, there is only one race: the human race. I can honestly say with all my heart that LDC is a gift from a higher being.

'Tis the Season
by Nithya Joseph
That favorite time of year is rapidly approaching. Christmas is near, and every good little Red Cross member knows that that also means Holiday Project 2000 is coming. If you haven't been to Holiday Project before, then you really have missed out. But don't start crying! You are of course welcome to come this year's. Holiday Project is one of Youth Council's biggest events. It is one day when several under privileged children in the Santa Ana area have the chance to have a fun-filled day to do things such as meeting Santa, doing crafts (i.e.: face painting, decorating sugar cookies), and getting toys. Executive Board's Vice President Christine Nguyen will organize this year's Holiday Project, and we are all certainly looking forward to it. If you have no idea what Holiday Project is about, you can always look to last year as an example. Last year's organizer of the Holiday Project, Kavitha Joseph, said that, "This event truly embodies the holiday spirit because you directly experience the power of receiving in return for giving. It is a special opportunity to see the direct impact of the goodwill on the shining faces you have helped." Now that you all know what a great event the Holiday Project is, every one of you Red Cross volunteers should make sure to be there, or else you will really regret it!

Cause For Alarm
By John Nguyen

The Cause For Alarm event was on September 23, 2000. It was a day when many youths from all over Southern California gathered in Santa Ana and went to assigned houses, giving out informational packets regarding fire safety and free smoke detectors, courtesy of the Santa Ana Fire Department. Later, the fire department held a presentation in the neighborhood in which everyone was welcome to participate. They taught the audience how to install and use smoke alarms, what to do in case of a fire, and what everyone should know about fire safety.