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Ten Orange County residents to be recognized for acts of courage and community impact, including youngest ever honoree – a lifesaving 7-year-old from Fountain Valley, Calif.
ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. (April 24, 2024) – The American Red Cross of Orange County is honoring ten local heroes for their outstanding acts of heroism. These heroes will be celebrated at the 2024 Orange County Heroes Awards, held on Friday, May 10 at the City National Grove of Anaheim.
“Our annual Orange County Heroes Awards and luncheon celebrates ordinary people with extraordinary courage,” said Becky Firey, Executive Director of the American Red Cross of Orange County. “From saving lives to helping their communities, each hero being recognized has their own incredible story, and we know that everyone who attends this year’s event will be truly inspired.”
2024 Orange County Heroes Awards Honorees
Click here to view and download hero photos.
- Youth Hero: Olivia Clay (Fountain Valley, Calif.)
While chasing after their family dog, 7-year-old Olivia Clay followed her 2-year-old cousin Paisley into the backyard. Shortly after, Paisley accidentally fell into the pool, also pulling Clay into the water, who was trying to keep her cousin from falling in. While in the water, Clay quickly yelled for her family, grabbed her cousin, and maneuvered to the poolside to grab a ledge, while holding her cousin in her other arm to keep her from drowning. Clay continued to hold onto her cousin and call for help. After hearing the cries for help, Paisley's mother jumped into the pool and helped rescue the girls along with Olivia’s father, Brandin. Thanks to Clay’s incredible heroism and composure, both she and her cousin were able to survive the harrowing near-drowning experience.
- Good Samaritan Hero: Fairuz Schlecht (Newport Beach, Calif.)
On the night of December 20, 2022, Fairuz Schlecht and her family were asleep in their second-floor apartment when they were awoken by the sound of smoke alarms due to a fire in her building. After they safely escaped, Schlecht noticed three children screaming from a neighboring second-floor bedroom window with smoke coming from it. Without hesitation, she immediately ran back into the burning building, crawling on her hands and knees to a bedroom where she found all three young children, one of whom was hiding under a bed. Carrying all three children through dangerous smoke and fire, Schlecht was able to again escape to safety with all three children and reunite them with their parents.
- Disaster Services Hero: Dan Lam (Westminster, Calif.)
Westminster resident Dan Lam has a powerful story of escaping his native Vietnam to Thailand many years ago. During his dangerous months-long journey, Lam found refuge at a Red Cross refugee camp for nearly a year. After making it to the United States, he later married a woman he met at the Red Cross camp years earlier and raised a family in Westminster, Calif. Now, he’s giving back to the Red Cross as a volunteer with the Red Cross of Orange County. Lam has been a dedicated Disaster Services volunteer since 2008. In 2023, Lam responded to 57 local disasters – often home fires during late night and early morning hours – to provide comfort and care for those affected. Lam has also deployed for three weeks to help people affected by storms in Guam. When asked why he volunteers, Lam responds: “People deserve our help and I'm paying it forward.”
- First Responder Heroes: Derrick Ankerstar, Kevin Estrada, and Megan Matchett (Irvine, Calif.)
On Sunday, April 2, 2023, at William R. Mason Regional Park in Irvine, Orange County Parks park ranger Megan Matchett was notified that a man collapsed, and his lips were turning blue. Without hesitation, she followed her training, notifying dispatch, assessing the man’s condition, and quickly beginning CPR. Her fellow park rangers Derrick Ankerstar and Kevin Estrada jumped in to help. Matchett, Estrada and Ankerstar worked as a team to provide CPR, give rescue breaths and administer an AED until the Orange County Fire Authority arrived and assumed patient care. At that time, thanks to the heroic efforts of Ankerstar, Estrada, and Matchett, the man had regained his pulse. The training, teamwork and swift actions of Ankerstar, Estrada, and Matchett undoubtedly helped save his life.
- Animal Welfare Hero: Equine Herd at The Shea Center (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)
Established in 1978, The Shea Center is dedicated to improving the lives of people with disabilities through therapeutic horse-related programs. The Shea Center provides equine-assisted services and therapeutic equestrian programs and therapies such as physical, occupational, speech, psychotherapy, and adaptive riding. The Shea Center is a sanctuary where therapy horses and humans form deep connections that promote life-changing wellbeing and healing, transforming lives and reminding us that heroes come in all forms — and some even have hooves.
- Gift of Life Hero: Amanda Hildebrand (Garden Grove, Calif.)
Garden Grove resident Amanda Hildebrand has been donating blood for the past 18 years. As of April 2024, she has donated eight gallons of blood. Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood, and blood donors like Hildebrand help patients of all ages, including accident and burn victims, heart surgery and organ transplant patients, and those battling cancer.
- Service to the Armed Forces Hero: Connie Mesta (Westminster, Calif.)
Connie Mesta oversees the holiday program at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base, bringing joy to service members and military families every holiday season. Since retiring from the U.S. Army in 2016, Mesta has continued to run the program and has made it her mission to see that every family who requests support through the holiday program receives the help they need. “Every child deserves a wrapped present under the Christmas tree,” says Mesta. In 2023, the holiday program served more than 90 military families.
- Corporate Hero: Kingston Technology Company, Inc. (Fountain Valley, Calif.)
Kingston Technology has been a steadfast partner of the American Red Cross since 2017. In August of 2023, when powerful and relentless fires tore through Maui, Kingston Technology was there to help. Thanks to Kingston’s employees and matching gifts, they supported the Red Cross with a gift of over $25,000. Kingston Technology has a long history of providing support in times of disaster through corporate gifts and employee giving, supporting Red Cross disaster relief efforts nationally and internationally. In addition to their financial support, Kingston Technology has also hosted Red Cross blood drives and provided Red Cross CPR, AED and First Aid training for its employees.
Event tickets and sponsorships are available now. Funds raised at this year’s event will benefit the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, which aims to reduce home fire deaths and injuries through home fire community education and the installation of free smoke alarms for anyone in need. Match Sponsors A Little Help Foundation and The Caring Path Foundation Fund will match all event donations up to $30,000.
The Orange County Heroes Awards is made possible thanks to the generosity of Humanitarian Sponsor Antis Roofing & Waterproofing; Regional Sponsor U.S. Bank; Presenting Sponsors Brasstech, Inc. and SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, and Community Sponsors Goldman Sachs Ayco Personal Financial Management, Kia America, Nationwide, Pacific Life Foundation, Southern California Veterinary Medical Association, UCI Health, and other local sponsors.
Nominations for the annual Orange County Heroes Awards are accepted year-round. For more information please visit redcross.org/ocheroes.
About the American Red Cross Southern California Region
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 public to perform its mission. The Red Cross Southern California Region proudly serves San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial Counties. In addition to carrying out disaster preparedness and response programs, blood collection, health and safety training, international services programs and supporting the military community, the Southern California Region provides nutritional counseling through its Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program in San Diego and helps communities prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters through its Prepare SoCal and Prepare San Diego initiatives. For more information, please visit redcross.org/SoCal or cruzrojaamericana.org, or connect with us on Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.
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