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Hirsh: CNMI a place of compassion
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Posted on Mar 05 2005
By Marconi Calindas
Reporter
American Red Cross NMI Chapter director John Hirsh lauded the people of the CNMI for their generosity and gift of giving during the general membership meeting of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce last Wednesday at the Pacific Islands Club.
Hirsh, who spoke at the Chamber meetings as the entire nation commemorates American Red Cross month, said compassion is deeply rooted in the psyche of the people of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.
He further said that in the American Red Cross’ 26-year existence in the Marianas, he has always witnessed, first hand, the compassion and dedication of its people to humanitarian causes.
“It’s been the place where someone who may not know you, will save you from drowning or teach you first aid or provide you with shelter,” he said, referring to last year’s Typhoons Tingting and Chaba and the deadly tsunamis that took hundreds of thousands of lives in Asia and Africa.
He said the NMI Chapter of ARC responds to many disasters, big and small, that occur in the Commonwealth each year.
Hirsh said the Red Cross has always been among the first to respond to the scene to provide food, shelter, and grief counseling to victims of disasters.
Last year the Red Cross assisted more than 2,400 local families in the CNMI and provided more than 29,000 meals to victims of the super typhoons.
Hirsh also shared to members of the Chamber that more than 1,000 people learned lifesaving skills such as first aid and CPR from the ARC during the past several years.
Red Cross also gave the Commonwealth Health Center $90,000-worth of life-saving neo-natal medical equipment and supported CHC’s diabetes program.
He said ARC is continually working with the Emergency Management Office for disaster mitigation programs. Red Cross also had a hand in briefing over 100 reservists and their families on how to access the agency when they are separated with their loved ones by war and conflicts.
“We may not all look the same, dress the same nor sound the same, but we share a common spirit that binds us together when times are tough and unites us in action when someone is suffering,” said Hirsh.
