Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Top officials from the American Red Cross Pacific Islands Region recently visited the Territory to strengthen awareness and emphasize the vital importance of disaster preparedness across the local community, especially as we enter Cyclone Season, which spans from November through April.

The three-member delegation led by Chief Executive Officer Molly Schmidt included  Julie Greenly, Regional Program Director for Service to the Armed Forces and International Services (SAF/IS), and Renise Haili Bayne, Regional Disaster Officer.

The team commenced their visit on Tuesday morning with a courtesy meeting with Governor Pulaalii N. Pula, who formally welcomed them to the Territory and expressed deep appreciation for their invaluable service and support to local residents affected by natural disasters and unforeseen emergencies.

CEO Molly Schmidt reiterated that the primary purpose of their visit was to share vital information about the disaster response services and support available to the local community — including military veterans, active-duty service members, and their families.

During a televised interview on KVZK-TV featuring all three American Red Cross officials, Julie Greenly, Regional Program Director for Service to the Armed Forces and International Services (SAF/IS), elaborated on these military support services.

"One of the core services that we provide is from the Hero Care Network," Greenly began. "So if there is a service member who is deployed and there's a family emergency, and the family needs to bring the service member home, they can contact our 24/7 Hotline, and our trained caseworkers will then verify the emergency by calling the hospital or doctor.

"Once they verify the emergency, they will then call the Command to deliver the message. It could be for instances like a death, or illness, or an extreme financial situation where the family needs to bring the service member home. It could even be for a birth."

According to Greenly, the other core initiative is the Resiliency Program, which is coordinated by licensed mental health professionals who first undergo training as Red Cross volunteers.

She noted that American Samoa currently has one trained facilitator capable of conducting in-person workshops tailored for veterans, active-duty service members, and their families — providing critical emotional support and preparedness tools.

American Red Cross CEO Molly Schmidt announced that a Resiliency Workshop for veterans and their families will be held the following day at the Veterans’ Center, located at the Tradewinds’ Equator Lodge. The session will be facilitated by Robert Toelupe.

Schmidt also shared that the Red Cross will conduct emergency response training for personnel from the Department of Education (DOE), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Department of Public Safety (DPS). The training aims to highlight the organization’s role in supporting government agencies in safeguarding the public during all types of disasters.

"I’m grateful for the opportunity to share resources that focus on community well-being during times of disasters," Schmidt stated. "The American Red Cross is deeply committed to our mission, which is to alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies, and we are dedicated to supporting each and every one of you in building healthy, happy, and safe communities."

Molly Schmidt, who joined the American Red Cross Pacific Islands Region as Chief Operating Officer in 2024, has recently stepped into the role of Regional Chief Executive Officer.

With more than two decades of experience in organizational development across international NGOs and community-based nonprofits, Schmidt brings a wealth of leadership expertise to her new position. Her career includes key roles with the Girl Scouts of Hawaiʻi and the Girl Scouts of Northern California, where she oversaw a broad spectrum of operational functions.

Her portfolio spans multi-department fiscal management, donor stewardship, volunteer recruitment and retention, team capacity building, monitoring and evaluation, risk mitigation and compliance, communications, IT and systems support, and facility management.

The depth and diversity of her skill set have made her transition from COO to CEO appear smooth and consistent — an evolution that reflects both her professional readiness and her longstanding commitment to community-centered leadership.

Beyond her extensive managerial expertise, Molly Schmidt’s passion for serving communities in crisis was deeply shaped by her fieldwork with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), where she served with the Southeast Asia Regional Delegation for four years following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

During that time, Schmidt worked directly with vulnerable communities, promoting disaster preparedness and public health education. Her efforts integrated emergency response and recovery into broader health initiatives—particularly in the wake of the SARS outbreak and throughout the H1N1 Bird Flu pandemic, which severely impacted Southeast Asia.

However, Schmidt emphasized that the success of emergency response and recovery efforts depends on recruiting volunteers from within the affected communities, stating that the more local engagement, the stronger and more sustainable the impact.

“There is a lot of momentum and everyone is engaged in carrying out their responsibilities,” Schmidt acknowledged. “My vision is for local communities to be prepared—to reach out and support the American Red Cross in helping those in need. To keep the momentum in motion, we need to cement partnerships with government and elected officials.”

In their KVZK-TV interview, CEO Molly Schmidt acknowledged the onset of this year’s Cyclone Season and reminded viewers that emergencies can strike any community — especially during this time of year.

She noted that coordinating such responses falls under the purview of Regional Disaster Officer Renise Haili Bayne, to whom she deferred for further details.

Regional Disaster Officer Bayne began by sharing that she had served as a volunteer for 13 years before stepping into her current role—bringing with her a wealth of firsthand experience in disaster response.

She outlined a two-step approach to strengthening community readiness: first, by recruiting volunteers, and second, by equipping them with the tools and training necessary to assist residents displaced by emergencies.

Bayne clarified that the American Red Cross’s role in disaster response is to support American Samoa’s emergency management agency, along with first responders in the Fire Service and Police. She emphasized that Red Cross teams do not self-deploy; rather, they must be officially activated by emergency management or first responder agencies before mobilizing.

"When we are activated, we take our lead from the incident commander who shares what is happening in the field, then we send our disaster action team of volunteers that respond and assess the families' needs," the Regional Disaster Officer said.

"For larger disasters like Cyclone Gitta or the most recent flooding that caused landslides, we take the lead from emergency management and support them. So we sit at their table to learn what type of responses the American Red Cross can provide to the residents who are displaced.

"So the ultimate goal is to train our volunteers or our local American Samoa residents to be ready to be our Red Cross volunteers to respond to disasters. If we exceed the ability to respond, then we send in reinforcement from the Continental US or from the Hawaiian Islands. But ideally, it would be best for local people to support local people."

Regional Disaster Officer Bayne concluded by urging the local community to take full advantage of the Preparedness Program, coordinated by Program Manager To'afa Leilani Tu'amoheloa-Tilo and Business Operations Coordinator Lipea Uta Sui at the American Samoa Red Cross headquarters in Tafuna.

The program not only promotes home fire safety through the installation of free smoke alarms, but also encourages residents to prepare emergency kits — or “Go Bags” — stocked with essential items such as batteries for flashlights and portable radios, warm clothing, canned food, and other supplies critical during disasters when electricity may be interrupted indefinitely.

Bayne emphasized that the contents of these kits should be tailored to meet the needs of different age groups within each household.

Business Operations Coordinator Sui reported that the American Samoa Red Cross Chapter has successfully recruited over 30 local volunteers, with hopes that the number will continue to grow. He expressed gratitude for financial support from the American Red Cross headquarters in Hawai‘i, which made possible the renovation of the warehouse and main office in Tafuna, as well as the installation of a water tank and booster pump at the compound.

The American Red Cross delegation departed for Hawai‘i last night, concluding a three-day visit that CEO Schmidt described as a resounding success. Speaking to Samoa News, Schmidt shared her enthusiasm for the progress made and expressed her intention to return for another field visit in January 2026.