The American Red Cross Tulsa Area Chapter hosted Red Cross Connect: A Night of Impact and Inspiration featuring keynote speaker Mayor Monroe Nichols to bring together members of the philanthropic community in support of the Red Cross mission.

The Nov. 17 event was hosted by Red Cross Tulsa Area Chapter board member and Muscogee Nation Gaming Enterprises (MNGE) CEO Pat Crofts at River Spirit. Crofts was a blood donor and completed Red Cross first aid and CPR training before joining the Tulsa Area Chapter board of directors in 2018. He said that’s when he discovered the full depth and spirit of the organization by seeing how it touches lives every day.

“Because the Red Cross isn’t just an organization — it’s people. It’s you. It’s our community,” Crofts said.

The Red Cross helps one in 65 people at some point in their lives. It could be through a lifesaving blood transfusion after an accident or during cancer treatment. Maybe it’s through CPR training or by being saved by someone the Red Cross trained in lifesaving skills. It may also come from the support provided to service members and their families, starting from the moment they enlist.

Most people are familiar with how the Red Cross helps people after a disaster like a home fire, tornado or flood. In Tulsa, those disasters can also include wind storms that knock out power for several days or winter storms that leave people struggling to stay warm.

Mayor Nichols saw firsthand that kind of unpredictability and potential widespread impact last winter when prolonged freezing temperatures put thousands of Tulsans, both housed and unhoused, in danger. It led to the City of Tulsa opening a weather shelter for the upcoming winter.

Nichols said seeing former Mayor Kathy Taylor playing an active part in responding to an ice storm during her term in 2008 showed him what leaders should do during a crisis. He added that while people could look at that as a profile in courage and leadership, that’s ordinary behavior for Red Cross volunteers.

“We are all connected in our commitment to making sure that Tulsa — even when there’s a storm, even when there’s a disaster — that Tulsa and Tulsans know that there’s somebody there and they’re never alone. I think it’s those kinds of things that define a city,” Nichols said.

In his State of the City address the week before, Nichols said building a great city never happens on accident but because people decide to serve.

“And so, your decision to be here, your decision to be part of the Red Cross family, your decision to support this community is indeed what makes us special and guarantees we’re going to be special for a very, very long time,” he said.

In the last year, Red Cross Tulsa Area Chapter volunteers responded to nearly 300 home fires. They installed over 400 smoke alarms in neighborhoods from north Tulsa to Broken Arrow and helped 250 families create fire escape plans.

The Red Cross supported Tulsa hospitals by delivering thousands of units of blood products, ensuring lifesaving blood is ready for someone’s neighbor, coworker, parent or child. Tulsa is also home to one of the strongest military and veteran communities in the region. The local Service to the Armed Forces team supports families through emergency communications, resiliency workshops and care at VA facilities.

Red Cross volunteers in the area also deploy at some of the highest rates in the entire country.

“When wildfires, hurricanes, or floods strike anywhere in the U.S., it is often our Oklahoma volunteers — many from right here in Tulsa — who are among the first to go. They bring the Oklahoma Standard to families who desperately need hope,” said Red Cross Kansas and Oklahoma Region CEO and Tulsa Area Chapter Executive Director Megan Haddock. “So, when we talk about the Red Cross, we’re not talking about something distant. We’re talking about mission, impact and compassion happening right here, every day, in every corner of this city.”

The need is growing. The Red Cross now responds to a large disaster every 10 days — twice as often as just a decade ago. That means more displaced families and more lives disrupted.

Oklahoma is an importer of Red Cross national funding and resources. That’s not because we’re overspending but because the need is outpacing our resources.

Red Cross Connect is part of the Kansas and Oklahoma Region’s work to build a pipeline of the next generation of Red Cross leaders: board members, Tiffany Circle members, community partners, business collaborators, donors and volunteers.

Because when you step forward, you become the Red Cross in your community.