LOS ANGELES, April 19, 2025 — Today, the American Red Cross Los Angeles Region honored volunteers’ contributions at the annual Volunteer Excellence Awards, held at the Autry Museum of the American West. Volunteers, who make up 90% of the Red Cross workforce, supported blood drives, assisted veterans and military families and provided food and shelter following disasters of all sizes.

SEE: 2025 Volunteer Excellence Awards Live Feed (Facebook)

ALSO SEE: Photos of the 2025 Volunteer Excellence Awards Honorees (Flickr)

The 10 award winners and the more than 6,200 volunteers in the LA Region received praise and gratitude for their consistent commitment to the Red Cross mission and values. In 2024, local volunteers provided disaster assistance to over 2,700 Angelenos during local emergencies, facilitated more than 500 emergency communications for military members and their families and collected more than 200,000 units of lifesaving blood donations.

“Our volunteers are the core of our mission, driven by a humanitarian spirit and unwavering dedication to providing comfort and care,” said Joanne Nowlin, CEO of the American Red Cross Los Angeles Region. “Their incredible commitment empowers us to support people through challenging times, both in our community and across the nation.”

Committed to helping all those in need, volunteers deliver emergency support such as disaster relief, lifesaving blood, critical services for military families and veterans, lifesaving skills like CPR, international aid and so much more every day. Become a Red Cross volunteer by applying at redcross.org/volunteer.

The awardees:

Mark Whichard – Rising Star Award

Monrovia resident Mark is recognized with an award honoring a volunteer who has served less than one year and has made a measurable impact within their first 12 months. Starting in disaster cycle services, Mark has grown to serve in various roles, from local disaster duty officer, manning 24-hour on-call shifts to respond to local home fires, to deploying across the country to support disaster relief operations.

Andrea Monis– Outstanding Youth

Cerritos resident Andrea has demonstrated her dedication to serving her community and increasing youth engagement. Through service, she has grown as a leader and helped engage schools, increasing the number of Red Cross youth clubs by 50% in the Metro and Southeast Chapter area.

Lorena Um Kim – Biomedical Achievement

West LA resident and high school student Lorena is recognized for her dedication as a blood donor ambassador. Her leadership is evident through her proactive problem-solving, enjoyable interactions and her commitment to ensuring all volunteers and team members feel valued. Her tireless efforts to organize blood drives in her community inspire others to give back.

John Wong– Service to the Armed Forces

Long Beach resident John brings extraordinary leadership to his Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) volunteer role. He ensures the success of SAF outreach events and distributes vital information and resources to service members and their families. He furthers the program’s reach and recruits new volunteers, represents SAF at meetings, supports events like Veteran Stand Down and makes an invaluable contribution to the department.

Claudia Alvarez – Disaster Preparedness & Response

Pico Union resident Claudia exemplifies commitment to her community. She balances a full-time job while being a cornerstone of the Metro and Southeast Los Angeles Chapter’s recovery casework services, disaster assessment and feeding services. Her bilingual skills, dedication to assisting community members, and data management and GIS mapping leadership have significantly enhanced our community preparedness and response, strengthening relationships with community partners and supporting new volunteers.

Mystie Ng – Communications Award

San Gabriel Valley resident Mystie embodies Red Cross values in all her projects, delivering support with professionalism, kindness and credibility. Over the years, she has grown from an intern to a communications volunteer leader and youth advisor across multiple youth clubs. Tapping into her professional communications background, she enhances support of social media, public affairs, media relations and youth engagement.

Vrezh Grigoryan – International Services

Glendale resident Vrezh serves as the Restoring Family Links (RFL) lead and provides comfort and reassurance to families during their search for loved ones. His strong leadership and patience have led to increased RFL cases and positioned the team to surpass the highest number of cases recorded four years ago. Vrezh's commitment and compassionate approach significantly enhance our mission.

Kaden Espino – Special Citation for Exceptional Volunteer Service

Pomona resident Kaden consistently rises to the challenge of serving as a Youth Advisor managing 113 high school clubs and five youth corps, supporting the READYTeens program, serving as co-lead on a pilot initiative, Disaster Cycle Services Pathway and serving as a regional board member. His dedication to youth involvement helps the Red Cross expand the youth program to more communities and foster the next generation of leaders.

Sheila Brown – Volunteer Leadership

Santa Clarita resident Sheila has volunteered for over 35 years and has served multiple roles in disaster cycle services. However, serving as the coordinator of community first aid for the Los Angeles Region has provided her the utmost pride. Her efforts include supervising over 200 first aid volunteers, delivering first aid and preparedness services to the communities of greater Los Angeles, from neighborhood events to historic events like the Tournament of Roses.

Jane Dean – Clara Barton Honor Award for Meritorious Volunteer Leadership

Cerritos resident Jane lends her professional experience as a registered nurse to serve as a disaster health services, mental health, and spiritual care leader ensuring teams are well-prepared to provide essential support. 

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.