Community Connections

By Alicia Zeh

How does a community remain resilient through disaster? Through sustained connection during everyday life. New Horizon Presbyterian Church in Council Bluffs, Iowa, is a perfect example. The relationship between the Red Cross and New Horizon started about five years ago when church and community member Terry Bailey stumbled upon a LinkedIn post searching for new Red Cross board members. Having recently retired, Bailey was immediately intrigued and soon voted onto the board.

Terry Bailey

“I am not a person to sit and do nothing,” says Bailey. “I want to be active.”

Bailey joined the board and has since been involved in many different aspects of the Red Cross, including serving with disaster responses for both Hurricane Helene and the most recent Los Angeles wildfires. When the local Red Cross chapter called on the community for spaces to hold blood drives, Bailey worked with church staff to establish New Horizon as a continuous drive location.

When this partnership first began, New Horizon held blood drives 3-5 times a year. Today, drives are held about once a week. As New Horizon drives became more frequent, people from rural areas attended more often than at other drives.

New Horizon Church on the day of a blood drive

Several church members have also stepped up to become more involved, like Joyce Sawyer, who regularly works to check in donors. Sawyer adds her own special touch to drives by keeping painted rocks with encouraging notes at the check-in desk to welcome donors.

“I feel like I’m contributing something to the world. To my community,” said Sawyer.

She noted that the Red Cross staff and donors have all been kind and wonderful to work with. The church prayer shawl group also creates knitted tokens that donors can take home, another example of the church adding its own unique thoughtfulness to Red Cross drives.

In October, New Horizon Presbyterian Church presented a donation to Red Cross Region CEO Jill Orton to support the organization's mission.

In addition to blood drives, the church is also a potential Red Cross shelter location, should the need arise. The New Horizon community outreach group also chose the Red Cross as one of the beneficiaries for their annual rummage sale, a fundraiser in which church members donate lightly used items to sell for charity.

By giving their space, time and love to Red Cross events, New Horizon is able to broaden their impact on the local community and create a sense of security that neighbors are here right now, ready to support each other.