By Rebecca Marshall Cascades Region Communications Director

We wanted to thank our Army and Air National Guard members who’ve been activated to the front lines on the wildfires in Oregon since the beginning of August. They’ve been working long hours for consecutive days and they’ll tell you the work is hot and dirty.

But, our Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) team felt a simple thank you wasn’t enough. So, on August 9th, more than 20 Red Cross volunteers gathered in our Portland Chapter Office and started assembling care packages.

Each care package included information on the Red Cross Hero Care Network, postcards with messages of support, cooling towels, keychain flashlights, candy, light-up glasses, jerky sticks, sunscreen, lip balm, and energy drinks. We wanted these packages to be functional and fun.

“We wanted to boost morale and show support for these Army and Air Guard members in the same way that we support overseas deployments,” says Meghan Hahn, Regional Director for Service to the Armed Forces in Oregon. She’s also the spouse of a National Guard soldier.

This project was a true collaboration. We worked with the lead Military & Family Readiness Specialist, the National Guard Office of Public Affairs, and the Army and Air National Guard to get the care packages to the frontlines. Master Sergeant Christopher Schwartz, at the Joint Operations Center in Salem, facilitated the delivery. He and his team had some of the packages airlifted to John Day, Roseburg, and Cottage Grove. They also drove over five hours from Salem to Burns, Oregon to deliver them to the 105 servicemembers in the field.

Eighty-four are working the Telephone Fire in Burns and 21 are assigned to aviation missions on fires around the state. They were all pleasantly surprised by the packages.

One guardsman told us: “With 14 straight 12-hours days, receiving the goodie bag was a great morale boost. We all appreciate the Red Cross for that.”

We at the Red Cross appreciate the work that these men and women are doing, now more than ever.

As of August 9, 2024, Oregon surpassed 1.4 million acres burned by wildfires. That’s more than the devastating wildfires of 2020 and more than any year since reliable records began in the 1990s.

We aren’t out of wildfire season yet.

Learn more about the work we are doing in the Red Cross to support our servicemen and women year round. HERE.