On January 29th, Executive Director Daniel Scherer accepted the 2025 Contra Costa County Certificate of Appreciation for Monument Crisis Center. This recognition highlighted our organization’s partnership and commitment to the humanitarian mission of the American Red Cross.

“We’re here to celebrate community partners that have created a lasting impact to keep our communities safe in emergencies,” said American Red Cross Board Member Briana Taylor. “Monument Crisis Center helps us to understand how the community wants our support. They team with the American Red Cross to provide connections and share our resources and services.”

For more than a decade, Monument Crisis Center has brought awareness and American Red Cross programming and awareness to our at-risk community members. We have hosted Sound the Alarm installation events, Pillow Project emergency preparedness education programs, and multiple blood drives at our center.

“It’s vital to bring the American Red Cross programs to our clients,” said Daniel Scherer, who is a long-standing member of the American Red Cross Bay Area County Leadership Council. “When we held the first Sound the Alarm event, we learned that many apartment residents did not have working smoke alarms. That’s really frightening. And our students learned how to quickly pack essential items like extra clothes in their pillowcase if they ever need to leave their homes in a hurry. All that we do with the American Red Cross is incredibly valuable to our clients.”

And while the Center has hosted community blood drives over the past decade, the need for blood donations was brought close to home for the Monument Crisis Center family in December 2023. It was then that longstanding volunteer Cheryl DeSimone learned her 22-month-old grandson Dominic was diagnosed with leukemia.

To honor Dominic and all children who suffer from cancer, Monument Crisis Center launched “Dominic’s Drive” in the spring of 2024.

“Over the past two and a half years, Dominic has received numerous blood transfusions, including platelets and whole blood. The cycle of blood transfusions is constant during cancer treatment,” said Cheryl.

“Dominic’s Drive is symbolic – the blood donated here at Monument Crisis Center stays in Contra Costa County to help local kids. We just want to encourage people to donate wherever they are,” said Cheryl. “My own family members, including my kids Tim and Emily who volunteered at the Center when they were in high school, give blood as often as we can because we’ve seen how important it has been through all of Dominic’s treatment.”

And, as a proud grandmother, Cheryl is happy to report, “Today, Dominic is in school three days a week and looking forward to ringing the bell to signal the end of his cancer treatments in May!”

We invite you to celebrate our deep partnership with the American Red Cross and give the life-saving gift of blood at Dominic’s Drive 3.0. Donor slots are available from 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. on Friday, February 27, 2026, at Monument Crisis Center, 1990 Market Street, Concord.