The Kaua‘i chapter of the American Red Cross has hired Laura Burman of Hanalei as the agency’s new county director. “The Red Cross has a great mission of helping those in need,” Burman said. “I look forward to increasing partnerships,
The Kaua‘i chapter of the American Red Cross has hired Laura Burman of Hanalei as the agency’s new county director.
“The Red Cross has a great mission of helping those in need,” Burman said. “I look forward to increasing partnerships, enhancing the volunteer base and sharing safety and preparedness with the people in the Kaua‘i County community.”
For the past 15 years, she has contributed to Red Cross as a lifeguard instructor, including training in CPR and first aid, as well as a wilderness first aid instructor.
Burman is a veteran of the Gulf War, where she served in the Army as an emergency medical technician. After the war, she attended college on the GI Bill and earned an undergraduate degree in business and marketing and a graduate degree in physical education and exercise science.
“(Laura) is committed to ensuring that Red Cross services to people in the county of Kaua‘i continue to be provided and improved in order to keep our communities safe, healthy and prepared,” said Maria Lutz, a Red Cross representative, in a press release.
“Her knowledge of the local community will allow her to identify partnerships and resources and increase awareness of the Red Cross in Kaua‘i County.”
Previously, Burman worked as director of Kaua‘i Team Challenge, an experiential education program that uses games and physical activities that take people outside of their comfort zone in order to create a reaction that better stimulates learning about team building, trust and communications.
Although she has officially left Kaua‘i Team Challenge, she will contribute from time to time as a facilitator.
“I’ve gone from working on the beach in Hanalei to working in an office in Lihu‘e,” she said, but added that she is passionate about her new position with the Red Cross and the organization’s goals.
Her primary duties as director include organization of county disaster services and volunteers, training and preparedness classes and management of the county’s Giving Program.
Currently, the Kaua‘i chapter has 50 volunteers, but more are needed, Burman said. “We would like to invite the Kaua‘i community to become trained Red Cross volunteers to assist in preparing for times of disaster,” she said.
In addition to volunteers, the Red Cross is seeking holiday donations.
The Red Cross is a non-profit humanitarian organization which provides assistance for immediate emergency needs of those affected by disasters. All assistance to disaster victims is free, so the organization relies on donations to help fund health, safety and relief programs.
“All of the money coming into the Kaua‘i branch stays in Kaua‘i,” she said. “It buys supplies here, feeds people here in case of disaster relief and is allocated by zip code.”
Right now, their disaster relief fund is facing a “huge deficit,” she said.
For those interested in giving to the Red Cross over the holidays, she recommends stopping by their office at St. Michael’s where visitors can look through a catalog for different disaster relief items to purchase and donate, such as blankets, hot meals, cots and comfort kits, or provide a charitable donation to their community’s disaster relief fund.
“I think that people are willing to give,” she said. “It’s all going to work out great. It’s one of the things that is our top priority at this moment.”
The most recent emergency the Kaua‘i chapter has responded to was the house fires in Kapa‘a. She said during such times, the Red Cross is dispatched just like the fire department. “If there’s a displaced family, we can provide housing. If it’s more than one family, we can provide shelter.”
Burman lives on the North Shore with her husband, Matthew Burman, who is an ocean safety officer.
In her new position as director, she replaces Julie Hall who left the Red Cross to do humanitarian work in India for another organization.
The Red Cross was founded in 1881 by Clara Barton and has been present in Hawai‘i since 1917.
“It is not a federally funded organization as many assume,” Burman said. “We are primarily funded by charitable donations, grants and our training and preparedness courses. We offer a variety of training and preparedness classes each week at our Lihu‘e office located at 4317 Puaole St., Ste. A.”
The Red Cross offers CPR and first-aid classes during the day and evenings. They also sell first-aid kits, disaster kits, breathing barriers and pocket masks for CPR.
For additional information on safety products, donations, classes and volunteering, call 245-4919 or visit their website at hawaiiredcross.org.
