STOCKTON, CA (July 29, 2020) —American Red Cross is proud to announce Christopher Losavio has taken the role of Executive Director for the newly created American Red Cross of the Heart of the Valley. In this position, Losavio will serve in a leadership role working with more than 526 local volunteers and many community partners to improve the resiliency of the communities and the more than 1.6 million residents of Merced, San Joaquin, and Stanislaus counties to prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural and man-made disasters.

Over the past year, local Red Cross volunteers in Merced, San Joaquin, and Stanislaus counties respond to an average of 200 local emergencies and helped more than 500 affected residents to recover. Local volunteers also support the collection of more than 27,000 units of blood and provided critical services to more than 1,000 military families.

Losavio said his focus will be on relationships. “I want to strengthen our current relationships and develop new relationships for the future to help deliver life-saving Red Cross programs and services.” said Losavio. “I am proud to join our dedicated volunteers and our generous community and corporate partners in providing the Red Cross lifesaving services to those living and working in our Chapter.”

Christopher Losavio has been in the social services and non-profit field for over 15 years, with several years working in a leadership capacity.  His tenure with the Red Cross started in 2013 during Hurricane Sandy where he served as a member of the Long-Term Recovery Case Management team. During that time, he served hundreds of families who were devastated from the hurricane. Through the programs and resources provided at the Red Cross, he helped them recover financially as well as start to rebuild their homes.

Starting in 2015, Losavio served as the Regional Director of Client Services and Recovery for the Greater New York Region, one of the busiest disaster regions in the United States. During this time his team managed the casework, disaster mental health, disaster spiritual care, and health services program for the New York City, Long Island and several counties in Upstate New York and Connecticut. The team's top priority was to ensure families had all of the tools and resources needed to make a full recovery from building fires, vacates, building collapses and natural disasters occurring in the New York region.  He also managed several major national recovery efforts, such as setting up the Puerto Rico Evacuee Service Center that served thousands of families after Hurricane Maria. His team also created one of the first virtual casework hubs to support families across the US devastated by Hurricane Matthew and Harvey.  In addition to this work, his team provided mental health support and financial assistance among other services to the families affected by the West Side Highway Terrorist incident.

Most recently, Losavio served the Regional Director of the Service to the Armed Forces and International Services program for the American Red Cross of Greater New York.  Over the last two years, he has managed a team of staff and volunteers to support the military and international community. In this role, he built and managed a team of over 200 volunteers.  This team works to support the casework and resiliency for active duty service members, veterans and their families.  They also provide support to five veteran hospitals, families preparing for pre or post deployment, individuals joining the military, and families who were displaced due to war or conflict. 

About the American Red Cross of the Heart of the Valley

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds, and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. The American Red Cross of the Heart of the Valley serves the residents of Merced, San Joaquin, and Stanislaus counties.  For more information on disaster preparedness, health and safety classes, volunteer opportunities, and financial contributions visit our website at redcross.org/norcalcoastal. You may also find us on Facebook and Twitter.

###