Amirez, DFEMS bag Red Cross recognitions

Benjamin Petersburg is awarded the $15,000 grand raffle prize during the annual Club 200 fundraiser hosted by the American Red Cross-NMI Chapter last Saturday at the Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan. (Kimberly A. Bautista)

Joaquin Amirez and the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Service were recognized as the Volunteer of the Year and the Department of the Year, respectively, in last Saturday’s Club 200 fundraiser of the American Red Cross-NMI Chapter at the Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan beach.

Amirez serves as a volunteer in the chapter’s that enables him to provide services to the armed forces while also serving as a member of the chapter’s disaster action team.

Amirez began his journey with the local chapter of the Red Cross after Typhoon Soudelor devastated the island in 2015. As of today, Amirez has served a total of 3,125 hours as a volunteer.

Amirez was also one of the four from the Northern Marianas who helped out in Houston, Texas after the devastation of Hurricane Harvey.

According to a surprised Amirez, he just got back on island and no one had informed him that he had been chosen to receive the Volunteer of the Year award.

“I was so nervous because I didn’t know about this…I feel very grateful,” said Amirez.

He said he gladly takes up any volunteer jobs assigned to him. “I was recently deployed to Texas helping with victims of Hurricane Harvey. It was quite an experience,” he added.

Amirez was deployed to a shelter in Houston and he was given the opportunity not only to help those in need but he also met a few individuals he developed friendships with. “I was assigned to a shelter. I was able to make new friends and help people,” he said.

Amirez said that he is honoured to receive the award but he feels that there are more volunteers who deserve the recognition.

“To me, all the volunteers should be recognized, it’s not only me. I am honoured and grateful for receiving this award but I know all the other volunteers deserve it too,” said Amirez.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Medical service also received recognition from the local chapter of the Red Cross.

The award is presented to one of the chapter’s government partners for their valued contribution, partnership, and support to the ARC-NMI Chapter.

DFEMS Commissioner Clyde Norita, on behalf of DFEMS, received the award.

According to Norita, this is the first time the department has received an award from the chapter.

Norita said the services the department provides to the community would not be attainable if not for its partnerships.

“We are very responsive to the community’s needs but it’s really about working together, it’s not just the fire department. We team up with Red Cross, together with [the Department of Public Safety] and the hospital to make things happen. It’s about serving our community, that’s all it is really,” said Norita.