American Red Cross to honor three 'Everyday Extraordinary' women

The American Red Cross of Chicago & Northern Illinois is honoring Georgina Adan, Patty González and Maricela Wesby, three "Everyday Extraordinary" local women for their service to the community.

The three Chicago residents are the Blood Services Heroes. Georgina, Patty and Maricela understand how precious blood donations are for patients fighting for their lives.

In 2017, Maricela and Patty lost their 15-year-old niece, AnaVictoria to leukemia. Her illness and the impact of blood donations on her young life, motivated the women to organize blood drives to help patients like AnaVictoria.

Together, the three women have coordinated 17 blood drives at their workplace, Northern Trust, and have collected almost 700 units of blood, helping hundreds of patients.

"Georgina, Maricela and Patty's dedication and determination to coordinate blood drives and educate others about the importance of blood donation is making a tremendous impact in our community and helping hundreds of patients," said Celena Roldán, CEO of the American Red Cross of Chicago & Northern Illinois. "It is an honor to have them among this year's Red Cross heroes."

For the past 18 years, the Chicago & Northern Illinois Red Cross has honored each class of heroes at its Heroes Breakfast, typically attended by nearly 1,000 individuals. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Chicago & Northern Illinois Red Cross is unable to host this event in person but will honor this class of heroes via traditional and social media coverage beginning Tuesday, April 14.

Follow them @chicagoredcross on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to watch these heroes tell their stories of determination, resilience and kindness.

You can also join the American Red Cross of Chicago & Northern Illinois on LinkedIn as they tell stories of these "Everyday Extraordinary" individuals.

The American Red Cross invites you to help share these amazing stories with your friends and family across social media.

Additional honorees were selected in 11 community service categories. "Heroes" were chosen by an independent committee of leaders in the business and civic community. For the complete list of 2020 Heroes, visit redcross.org/heroes.

Thank you to all our generous sponsors, including: Better, Edwardson Family Foundation, Kirkland & Ellis, CSX, KPMG, Walgreens and to the media sponsor CBS 2.

The American Red Cross of Chicago & Northern Illinois serves 9.5 million people in 21 counties, including Boone, Bureau, Carroll, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Jo Daviess, LaSalle, Lake, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Putnam, Stephenson, Whiteside, Will and Winnebago.

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission.

For more information, visit redcross.org/il/chicago or visit Twitter.com/ChicagoRedCross.