The American Red Cross will honor people from Riverside County and San Bernardino County for outstanding acts of courage and community service at its 2024 Inland Empire Heroes Awards event, to be held 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. March 6 at the Ontario Convention Center.
“Our Inland Empire Heroes Awards and luncheon celebrates ordinary people with extraordinary courage,” Lois Beckman, executive director of the American Red Cross of Riverside County, said in a news release. “Each hero being recognized has their own incredible story, and we know that everyone who attends this year’s event will be truly inspired.”
Tickets for the Inland Empire Heroes Awards event are $75, available at redcross.org/IEHeroes.
At the event, the Red Cross will present nine awards — two Gift of Life Hero awards and one award each in seven other categories, Animal Welfare Hero, Disaster Services Hero, First Responder Hero, Good Samaritan Hero, Service to the Armed Forces Hero, Youth Hero and Corporate Hero.
The 2024 Animal Welfare Hero award goes to San Bernardino County Fire ME231 firefighters.
Following inclement weather in January 2023, Seamus, a 1-year-old Australian shepherd, was swept away in a storm drain after running away from his owner while on a walk, according to the news release. As the owners searched for Seamus, local crews were dispatched to assist, and someone who had heard a dog barking in a channel and floating away flagged down San Bernardino County Fire ME231. The firefighters rescued Seamus and reunited him with his owners.
The Disaster Services Hero award goes to Detective R. Espinoza of Riverside. Espinoza, with several family members and nearly 30 others from his church group, arrived in Israel for a vacation Oct. 7, 2023, just hours before the Hamas attack began, according to the news release.
While the group sought safety in bomb shelters, Espinoza worked to find safe passage home and provided medical aid and comfort. He secured ground transportation to Jordan, booked charter flights to Turkey and then commercial flights to Los Angeles, where the group arrived a week after arriving in Israel.
The First Responder Hero award goes to Cory Wheeler of Murrieta Fire and Rescue. After Wheeler and his team responded to a 911 call in which a 9-year-old girl lost her father, her only guardian, Wheeler started a fundraising effort that brought in more than $6,000 for the girl to provide essentials such as clothing, according to the news release. He also arranged a trip to Disneyland for the girl and placed funds in an account to help provide for her in the future.
The Gift of Life Hero awards go to William Taylor of Riverside and Tina Vazquez of Corona.
Since 2018, Taylor has been regularly donating platelets at the Red Cross Pomona Blood Donation Center, about a 72-mile round trip from his home. The donation process takes up to three hours, and Taylor has donated more than 370 platelet units.
Vazquez, a Red Cross blood program leader, has been instrumental in the resurgence of in-person blood drives sponsored by Circle K West Coast after the COVID-19 pandemic. Vazquez recruits Circle K staff and community members to give blood at local Circle K West blood drives, printing and posting flyers at stores and neighboring businesses, community centers and places of worship.
The Good Samaritan Hero award goes to Cesar Morales of Moreno Valley.
In April 2023, while driving a K-Frog station vehicle back from an event at the Norco Rodeo, the K-Frog Street Team was involved in an auto accident. After being rear-ended, then hit again on the side of the van, Morales pulled the station vehicle over and got out to exchange information with the other driver.
Instead, he realized the driver was having a medical emergency. Morales, a nursing student and former Marine, administered CPR and revived the driver, helping to save his life, according to the news release.
The Service to the Armed Forces Hero award goes to Robert J. Ethridge of Chino. Ethridge served in the U.S. Army from 1987 to 2002 and later joined the U.S. Forest Service. In his Forest Service career, he has worked during the Rim Fire, Station Fire, Ranch Fire and August Fire, among others, and was deployed to support search, rescue and recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina, according to the news release. He spends his evenings and weekends helping local veterans with the Valued Veterans Program.
The Youth Hero Award goes to Emma Gray of Rancho Cucamonga, an American Red Cross-certified lifeguard who performed first aid to help a student in her high school who was having a seizure. She noticed the student also had a laceration on his neck and she put pressure on the wound while waiting for medics to arrive.
The Corporate Hero award goes to Ontario Community Foundation, Upland, which has been a partner of the American Red Cross since 1981, supporting disaster relief efforts, the organization’s Home Fire Campaign, blood collection efforts and more.
Nominations for the Inland Empire Heroes Awards are accepted year-round. For information, go to redcross.org/IEHeroes.
NOTE: This story was updated Feb. 28, 2024, to correct a website address.
