Events and Activities : American Red Cross to Host Iowa Resiliency Summit

Event will focus on how to make Iowans more prepared.

The American Red Cross serving Greater Iowa is excited to host its first ever Iowa Resiliency Summit! This one day event on Wednesday, July 29, will focus on making Iowa a more prepared and resilient state by building at the local community and individual level. We will explore how community organizations can work together to ensure that Iowans are prepared for and able to recover from disasters. The focus is on ALL community organizations and not just those that respond to disasters.

We are excited to have a diverse group of participants from all corners of Iowa and speakers from various organizations and backgrounds. The day will conclude with a panel discussion providing an opportunity to attendees to ask questions of several of the speakers.

Scheduled to speak:

J.D. Polk (Keynote Speaker) – Dean of the Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine and former Assistant Secretary for Health Services and Chief Medical Officer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and former Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Chief of Space Medicine for NASA

· Kevin Kelley – Senior Director of Community Preparedness Programs, National American Red Cross

· Dan Wood – Acting SAC, Iowa State Fire Marshal’s Office

· John Halbrook – Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management

· Les Stohs – Greater Des Moines Habitat For Humanity

· Susan Sims – Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Mormon Helping Hands

· Alana Svensen – AmeriCorps NCCC Vinton Campus, Assistant Program Director

· Dan Cataldi – Regional Disaster Officer, American Red Cross serving Greater Iowa

“Strengthening resilience will save lives, and is cost effective,” said Dan Cataldi, Regional Disaster Officer for the Red Cross Iowa Region. “We hope the Iowa Resiliency Summit will encourage everyone to take preparedness action both at the individual and community levels.”

The Iowa Resiliency Summit will be held on Wednesday, July 29, from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. at the Fred Maytag II Boy Scout Center (6123 Scout Trail, Des Moines, IA 50321.)

About the American Red Cross serving Greater Iowa:

The Iowa Region, led by Regional Executive Leslie Schaffer, serves 96 counties in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. The Iowa Region includes four chapters in: Des Moines (Central Iowa serving Adair, Adams, Appanoose, Audubon, Boone, Carroll, Cass, Clarke, Dallas, Davis, Decatur, Fremont, Greene, Guthrie, Jasper, Lucas, Madison, Mahaska, Marion, Monroe, Montgomery, Page, Polk, Ringgold, Shelby, Story, Taylor, Union, Wapello, Warren and Wayne counties); Cedar Rapids (South and Eastern Iowa serving Benton, Black Hawk, Buchanan, Des Moines, Grundy, Hardin, Henry, Iowa, Jefferson, Johnson, Keokuk, Lee, Linn, Louisa, Marshall, Poweshiek, Tama, Van Buren and Washington counties); Dubuque (Northeast Iowa serving Allamakee, Bremer, Butler, Cedar, Chickasaw, Clayton, Clinton, Delaware, Dubuque, Fayette, Floyd, Howard, Jackson, Jones, Mitchell, Winneshiek and Worth counties); and Sioux City (North and Western Iowa serving Buena Vista, Calhoun, Cerro Gordo, Cherokee, Clay, Crawford, Dickinson, Emmet, Franklin, Hamilton, Hancock, Humboldt, Ida, Kossuth, Lyon, Monona, O’Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto, Plymouth, Pocahontas, Sac, Sioux, Webster, Winnebago, Woodbury, Wright, Dakota, NE and Union, SD counties.)

About the American Red Cross:
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 American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.