California's Capital Region: The Sacramento Valley

AMERICAN RED CROSS
GOLD COUNTRY REGION
The interior of the Red Cross tent, an exhibit at the California State Fair in
Sacramento, 1921.
COURTESY OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
This salute to the Gold Country Region of the American Red
Cross has been contributed by Best Western Plus Orchid Hotel &
Suites, 130 North Sunrise Avenue, Roseville in recognition and
thanks for a century of care and concern for the region.
Whether knitting for soldiers during World War I,
teaching swimming lessons in the 1950s, or sheltering
families displaced by devastating floods and wildfires in
recent decades, volunteers from the Gold Country Region of
the American Red Cross have strengthened communities
with their time, talents, and compassion for a hundred years.
The American Red Cross Gold Country Region serves the
most ethnically and racially integrated metropolitan area in the
country. Headquartered in the California State Capital of
Sacramento, the region covers a territory consisting of urban to
rural, mountains to valley flatlands, and everything in between.
The Region is dedicated to providing exemplary customer service
when delivering the Red Cross mission to its constituents.
The Gold Country Region consists of two chapters, the
Northeastern California Chapter and the Sierra-Delta
Chapter. The Northeastern Chapter covers fourteen counties
and the Sierra-Delta covers ten.
Although several individual chapters and auxiliary Red
Cross groups existed in what is now the Gold Country
Region before 1917, it was in this pivotal year that new
chapters and current members united in a single mission:
supporting World War I soldiers overseas and at home.
Since 1917, American Red Cross volunteers from Angels
Camp to Yreka, have rolled up their sleeves and opened their
hearts to prevent, prepare for, and respond to disasters at
home and afar.
Early work of local chapters included infant wellness
initiatives, tuberculosis prevention, and providing hot meals
for school children. Today, in addition to responding to
disasters large and small, Gold Country volunteers help
families prepare for and prevent disasters through the Home
Fire Campaign, and the Pillowcase Project. Here are just a
few of the many disasters Red Cross Gold Country Region
volunteers have responded to over the years:
• 1917:New chapters around the Gold Country Region
united to support World War I soldiers overseas and at
home, raising money and making scarves, hats, and
surgical dressings.
• 1940, Glenn County: Volunteers set up an emergency
kitchen for Orland and Hamilton City families who lost
everything in a devastating flood.
CALIFORNIA’S CAPITAL REGION - THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY
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