American Red Cross of San Diego and Imperial Counties Real Heroes Awards statues (Photo courtesy of the Red Cross)
The American Red Cross of San Diego and Imperial Counties will honor a collection of local heroes Friday during an awards ceremony at the USS Midway Museum.
The organization’s 23rd annual Real Heroes Awards will recognize eight individuals and organizations “that embody the mission and spirit of the Red Cross by saving lives and creating safer, stronger and more resilient communities.”
This year’s honorees include:
— Bobbi Brink, founder of the Lions Tigers & Bears animal sanctuary in Alpine;
— Dash Menolascino, a 13-year-old boy who saved three of his brothers and their family puppy from a house fire in Poway;
— Michael Baum, a San Diego man who has donated platelets nearly 100 times in four years;
— Guy Baxter, an Encinitas man whose brother suffered cardiac arrest while surfing, was revived by Baxter, and made a full recovery;
— Gilbert Gonzalez, a Navy chief damage controlman who helped neighbors escape the chaos of May’s plane crash into the Murphy Canyon military housing community;
— The Resource Access Program, an initiative of the San Diego Fire- Rescue Department and Falck Mobile Health Corp, which is being recognized for “making a profound impact on the lives of the city’s most vulnerable”;
— Austin Cooke, a local U.S. Coast Guard emergency medical technician who responded to a boating accident off the coast of Peru after a crew member suffered a major spinal injury;
— Qualcomm for its donations to support the local Red Cross chapter and $150,000 to help California Wildfire relief efforts.
The Red Cross says nominations for the Real Heroes awards are accepted year-round. More information is available at redcross.org/SanDiego/RealHeroes.
–City News Service
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