New Red Cross Director for SW Oregon, Oct. 28

The American Red Cross Cascades Region recently welcomed Carisa Hettich as the new executive director for the southwest Oregon Chapter which is based in Eugene. On October 17–her first day on the job–she helped to install 171 smoke alarms in Eugene as part of the national Home Fire Preparedness Campaign. Hettich joins the Cascades Region after serving four years with the Red Cross of Georgia as the preparedness and partnerships manager and as a community relations officer. Hettich has also been involved with many other nonprofits where she specialized in development, volunteer management and casework. She was formerl y a PeaceCorps volunteer in El Salvador and received her master’s in nonprofit management from Regis University in Colorado. Hettich works for the Red Cross because she believes in the mission to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies. “The longer I work for the Red Cross, and the more I take part in the important mission that we deliver, I realize that no other organization can do what we do: Show up at the door step of a family affected by a home fire, deliver emergency messages to service members, collect nearly 40 percent of the nation’s blood supply, and offer life-saving health and safety training,” she says. As the chapter’s executive director, Hettich will oversee Red Cross services throughout southwestern Oregon. Her primary responsibility is to build relationships, and to support the efforts of staff and volunteers in local communities in Benton, Linn, Lane, Coos, Douglas, Curry, Josephine, Jackson, Klamath and Lake Counties. Hettich looks forward to serving in a community where she feels at home. “My family loves camping, fly fishing and being outdoors and there is no better place for all of that than Oregon,” she says. Hettich’s experience with the Red Cross, and the nonprofit sector more broadly, will be invaluable in her role as the chapter director.