In celebration of Red Cross Month, American Red Cross board member and disaster volunteer Joe Nilsestuen rode 100 miles across Los Angeles County to support the mission he had witnessed firsthand. 

This March, Joe and a small group of longtime cycling friends departed from the Western Los Angeles/Santa Monica Bay Chapter in Santa Monica and rode through all five territories that made up the American Red Cross Los Angeles Region. Supported by the Red Cross, the ride included staff and volunteer touchpoints along the route, but it was intentionally small in scale, a focused, mission‑driven effort rather than a large public event. 

The Red Cross Los Angeles Region served nearly 10 million people across 88 cities in Los Angeles County. The region is comprised of five chapters: Northern Valleys; Western LA/Santa Monica Bay; San Gabriel Pomona Valley; Metro/Southeast LA; and Greater Long Beach/South Bay. 

Over the course of the ride, the group stopped within each of these chapter territories, visiting a mix of chapter offices and frontline service locations. Planned stops included the Torrance Blood, Platelet and Plasma Donation Center; the Montebello Senior Center; the San Gabriel Pomona Valley Chapter in Arcadia; and the Northern Valleys Chapter in Sherman Oaks before returning to Santa Monica. 

Together, the route physically connected the region’s full footprint, illustrating that the Red Cross was not just a national organization, but a local network of facilities, volunteers, and neighbors embedded in communities across Los Angeles. 

The timing carried particular meaning. 

Southern California continues to feel the impact of devastating wildfires. In the preceding months, Red Cross volunteers had opened shelters, served tens of thousands of meals and snacks, provided health and mental health services, and delivered financial assistance to families beginning the long recovery process. The Los Angeles Region operated 24/7 to provide emergency disaster services, often mobilizing within hours when homes were lost.

Joe has served in those shelters himself.

In addition to disaster response, the Los Angeles Region collected blood through donation centers across the county, supporting the effort that supplied nearly 40% of the nation’s blood, installed free smoke alarms in high‑risk neighborhoods, and provided safety training and preparedness education year‑round.

For Joe, the ride continued a personal tradition: once each year, he used a cycling milestone to focus his network’s attention on the humanitarian work of the American Red Cross. 

While the ride group was intentionally small, the invitation to support the mission was broad — whether through financial contributions, blood donation, volunteer service, or preparedness education.

Charitable giving is personal, he acknowledged. That was why he asked just once a year.

But the need for the Red Cross was year‑round.

This March, his legs carried that message across Los Angeles. 

About the American Red Cross:

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or follow us on social media.