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Red Nose Response Newsletter
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Volume 3, Issue 2
Editor: Arla Albers
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Greetings!
This latest issue of the newsletter comes to you
shortly upon the heels of the last issue because we
have several annoncements that are time sensitive.
Please pay special attention to the articles about the
need to help out feeding volunteers in Greensburg,
Kansas and about the many blood drives going on
right now. These articles and the others in this issue
demonstrate ways that you, as responders, can make
a difference now. It is what you have been asking for.
Thank you again for your support and enthusiam
Sending Smiles To The Rescue.
The Board of Red Nose Response and the editor.
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Cookies needed in Greensburg, Kansas
This information comes from Rita "Dizzy" Winter, a
RNR responder who experienced the devastation of a
tornado in her home town of Greensburg, KS. Her
parents' home was reduced to pieces of wood. Close
to the entire town was destroyed. Rita shares this
appeal from David Yohn from Greensburg who is in
charge of
feeding the volunteers who have come into town to
help with the clean-up and rebuilding.
He says, "Starting March 12, we have
volunteer numbers growing up to 250 until the
end of the month... Since I have to feed them,
we can't do it at the Tornado Recovery. We
need locals, and previous locals, to help
take care of the volunteers. Often we don't
know how to give back, but this is how." The South
Central Kansas Tornado
Recovery Organization ends on March 31.
Here is something that all responders can do to help
with the recovery efforts in Greensburg. Teresa
Gretton thought cookies could be a big
hit, if a big red nose could be put in the
middle with white dots for eyes and a smile.
What a great idea. I'm sure there are chefs
out there just waiting to help!
If you can bake a dozen cookies or dozens of cookies
be sure to pack them in a plastic or tin container and
then pack that in a cardboard box with cushioning.
Since these will be coming from you, the RNR
responders, label these cookies with a note about
RNR and as a further suggestion, include our web
site, www.rednoseresponse.org so that
people can
learn about us.
The address you can mail cookies to:
SCKTRO
615 West Illinois,
Greensburg, Kansas 67054
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RNR Survival Kit
Look for yours at the next convention you attend
We will introduce these at the upcoming COAI
convention in Clarksville, IN beginning April 21, 2009.
They will be part of the convention goodie bags.
If you are a Red Nose coordinator for your
state, you might consider putting together
some of these items for your "state kit".
Basically, it's a Ziploc sandwich bag with a
label that says, "Red Nose Responder Survival
Kit" under the logo and might contain the
following items, labeled with the words in
parentheses:
- A Jolly Rancher (to keep your sense of
humor)
- A crayon (red, of course, to make your life
colorful)
- A paper clip (for holding it all
together)
- An eraser (to change for the better and
remove the mistakes you made today)
- A pink fuzzy cotton ball (to share your
love)
- A band aid (to heal the hurt feelings)
- A rubber band (to stay flexible)
- A heart/nose (to show the heart of a clown)
- A penny (to remind you to share your
resources)
- A stick of gum (to relieve stress)
- A toothpick (to hold open your eyes when
you just can't stay up one more minute to do
those balloons)
- A birthday candle (when you think you are
in the dark)
- A safety pin (to remind you that safety
is first)
- A block (to remind you that you might
stumble, but you won't fall)
- A marble (to help you keep rolling)
- A small mirror (to remind you
that your actions reflect on you.)
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Penny Harvest
Benefits go to Red Nose Response for a second time
Matthew "Phineas" Lish of Queens, NY encouraged
his elementary school to donate their Penny Harvest
to Red Nose Response two years ago. Now a middle
schooler, Matt has again championed RNR and
reports that approximately $250 will be donated to
Red Nose Response.
You might remember that we told you about Matt last
month with his fund raising activity making juggling
balls with the proceeds going to RNR as his chosen
charity for his Bar Mitzvah. He's a one-man fundraiser
and we truly appreciate what he has done.
What an inspiration to all of us. Hats off to Phineas!
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Wear RNR where you go out
You too can be seen wearing one or more of these
articles of clothing with the RNR logo on them.
All you need to do is go to our store at Cafe Press, find
you favorite, place an order and it will come to your
home in the mail.
RNR store
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Introducing the Newest Member of the Board of Directors
Marion has been a responder for RNR since 2006
and is the state coordinator for Connecticut. She has
been actively involved in communicating with her
responders, spreading the word about RNR at
regional conventions and completing her Red Cross
training as a DAT volunteer.
MLE (just say the letters and you are saying her clown
name) has been clowning for about 11 years. She
was drawn into the art when a notice of a clown
workshop was posted at her church. She attended
and, as she says, she was "hooked". Currently she is
a Christian clown, clowning with her sister Janice
(also a RNR responder) as the Kingdom Klowns.
MLE is married to a clown supporter, Tom Lovig, and
they live in Branford, CT. As a Board member she
hopes to re-invigorate communications with the state
coordinators, shining the light on ways they can
discover to be responders and bringing their interests
and concerns to the Board. She has big clown shoes
to fill following the lead of former Board member,
Elaine Vercellone, and we welcome her.
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The Presidents' Corner
Some thoughts I'd like to share with you
From the Pres of RNR:
Teresa and I gave a "Comic Relief - Sending
Smiles to the Rescue" lecture at the Circus
Magic Convention in Williamsburg, Virginia
last month. We decided that calling the Red
Nose Response lecture, "Disaster Clowning,"
did not exemplify the art form so we changed
the title for a more appropriate definition.
Red Nose Responders have many opportunities
to spread comic relief to those affected by
disastrous situations. Volunteering for and
with your local Disaster Action Team (DAT)
can give responders an edge in performing in
and out of shelters. Taking appropriate
classes prepares you as a volunteer first and
then as a responder ready to perform in the
necessary manner. Responders can host a
Welcome Home Luncheon for volunteers
returning from deployment or offer to perform
at special receptions for those who have
assisted during disasters. Fundraising is
keynote to any relief organization.
Responders can tremendously help by
organizing fund raising opportunities-big or
small. If you belong to an alley, ask for
their help with these endeavors.
Some responders that I have had the privilege
to meet have indicated a reluctance to
organize such events citing they are not
experienced enough or have never taken on
fundraising opportunities. I would like to
share with you how simple it is. My lovely
cohort (Blondi) and I presented our magical
fun show for purposes of fund-raising for our
local chapter of the Red Cross. We planned
an hour show. We asked for the backing of
the Red Cross in promoting the opportunity.
We also found a little theatre (black box) in
which we were able to negotiate part proceeds
for its use. We are delighted to say that we
sold out the house and had SRO. Everyone
appeared to have fun and both the Red Cross
and the Black Box benefitted. This type of
show may be too much for you to start but if
you have experience in performance shows can
be produced at a small cost and it is what we
clowns live for-to entertain and see the
smiles and hear the giggles. Other forms of
fundraising can be balloon art, face
painting, bake sales with a clown theme, etc.
An excerpt from a new lecture was also
introduced at the Circus Magic convention.
Anyone can present it. The title is "Don't
Clown Around with Disaster Preparedness."
Following a Red Cross manual on how to build
a Disaster Kit, two or more responders can
educate and entertain. One responder can be
the "straight man" explaining the serious
side of preparing for a disaster and the
other can play the clown bringing light to a
serious situation. By using visuals (large
and comedic) this presentation allows a young
audience to gain insight by remembering the
props used to emphasis the different steps in
building a disaster kit. We will go over
this presentation in upcoming issues of the
e-zine so that you can bring much needed
awareness to the community at large . It
can be done for school groups, civic
organizations, and churches. So, stay tuned.
Bob
"Bunky" Gretton
Clowns of
America International
Clown of
the Year, 2009
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RNR Advisory Board
President Bob Gretton appoints new members
The Board of Directors of Red Nose Response has
identified the need to have some very special people
serve in an advisory capacity based upon their unique
experiences or backgrounds. Advisors are asked to
serve for a one-year-term. They will be also be asked
to be available by email or conference call when their
strengths and knowledge can aid in developing more
ways to bring Smiles To The Rescue in order to build
a strong lasting organization.
The advisory board was announced in the Feb issue
of the e-zine with the first two members being
Teresa "Blinky" Gretton and
Paul "FuddiDuddy" Kleinberger. These two
have been supporters and advisors since the
inception of our organization. Paul was one of the
founding members.
The most recent additions are also people who have
been there on our behalf from Day One.
Keith "Toby" Stokes (also a founding
member) was on the ground floor as we first
organized and offered sage advice from his years of
clowning, educating and running a foundation.
Mike Zabko, CEO of the Southern Maryland
Chapter of
the American Red Cross, has guided us in becoming
recognized by the American Red Cross by creating the
Statement of Understanding (SOU) and providing
valuable insight into what it takes to work with national
relief organizations.
We are infinitely grateful to these people who are
willing to be there, on call, and to advise.
Advisory Board
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National Blood Drive Month
This is another way that Red Nose Response
responders can help to Give Life and Save a Life.
During the month of March we are encouraging our
responders to find a local blood drive and participate.
Some may be able to donate blood, as one responder
did while sporting her red nose and her RNR shirt.
That's Marion "MLE" (pronounced EmLy) Lovig of
Connecticut.
Whether you give blood or not, you can also volunteer
to entertain the children who come with their parents
by telling stories, clowning around and making
balloons. The staff of the blood drives will find that a
smile and a giggle makes their day go faster. Most of
those people are volunteers.
To find out where the next blood drive is being held
you can call your local Red Cross chapter, go to
www.givelife.org or call 1 800-GIVELIFE (1 800 448-
3543). Let them know that Red Nose Response is
there to support them.
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Coming Up
We continue to grow, both in the size of our
organization and our communication with you.
We hope you will make copies of the e-zine and share
them with your alleys, your friends and with the local
relief organizations.
Here are some things we have coming up. It was
suggested that the Red Cross and other relief groups
often have "comfort kits" that they distribute to the
adults. What is lacking is age appropriate comfort kits
for the children. We will share with you some ideas
for assembling these and giving them out locally. It
would be a wonderful alley project.
We are also developing a Red Nose Response
YouTube channel. This will be another means to
communicate between the e-zines and between all
the responders. Stay tuned for more on that.
Finally, we hope to have updated photos from
Greensburg and other events where RNR has been
active. Please send any photos and stories to
info@rednoseresponse.org. Your success is an
inspiration to others.
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We want to hear from all of you, sharing your
interests,
your activities and your questions. Tell us
when you
spot a need. You are our eyes and ears.
Email Arla Albers, our editor, with your
articles and pictures at gogoclown@cox.net.
Bob
Bob Gretton, President
Red Nose Response
phone:
866-422-5696
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