American Red Cross recognizes “Local Heroes”

GREEN BAY, WI—(WGBW)— Five local heroes were recognized by the Northeast Wisconsin chapter of the American Red Cross in August. Each of the individuals or groups honored made a positive impact on the lives of others by going above and beyond to build better communities.

“ We are so grateful to have heroes in our community that are really watching out fo r the other people, that are there when they’re needed, that are just jumping in whenever the moment calls, and are taking care of our community,” said Rebecca Rockhill, Executive Director of the Northeast Wisconsin Chapter. “And I think it’s important that we recognize these individuals. Not just to give them recognition, but to show the community how others just step up when needed!”

The American Red Cross chooses heroes across several categories. The honorees are selected based on the degree to which their actions uphold the values of the Red Cross humanitarian mission and leave a lasting positive impact on our communities.

The 2025 Northeast Wisconsin Heroes

Blood Services Hero: Jeff Rabas, Algoma (Kewaunee County)

Jeff Rabas is the Red Cross’ Blood Services Hero for 2025. He makes it a habit to donate platelets to the Red Cross every two weeks for an average of 22 to 24 platelet donations every year. And he does it for a very personal reason.

“Ten years ago, our daughter had cancer. She made it. It was close, and I said, I will do whatever it takes to help people with cancer,” Rabas explained. “This is one thing I can do. And I think more people can do it. I’m one of many that are there giving platelets, and I appreciate everyone that does. Because we all know somebody that has cancer. And every one of them giving platelets helps. I know blood helps. Plasma helps. Platelets help. And there’s just a small percentage that give platelets. It helps everybody, anybody with cancer. Once we experienced with our daughter having cancer, I knew I had to do something.”

Rabas said he drives 30 minutes every two weeks to donate platelets, and he has done so for a decade.

Disaster Relief Hero: Dan Kane, Green Bay (Brown County)

2025’s Disaster Relief Hero was nominated for helping to avoid a possible disaster before it could even begin. Dan Kane is the Emergency Management Director for Brown County Emergency Management. He was instrumental in preparing the Greater Green Bay Area for a massive influx of people when the 2025 NFL Draft came to town. And how that would affect the normal operations of Disaster Relief in the area.

“There’s so many other players that come into focus when you have an event like this size that needs this much coordination. What I helped lead as part of the public safety planning team was to get all the other external stakeholders involved, such as the Red Cross. The Red Cross is one of our biggest partners in this,” Kane said. “We need to pre-think these things ahead of time and think down the line of what could happen and what are the, what are the ripple effects that could come from an event like this, and what resources are already drained.”

Kane said outside of the NFL Draft, Brown County Emergency Management works closely with the Red Cross to help in local disaster relief, like fires. 

“We have ways that are built in. So these things to be able to happen organically and naturally,” said Kane. “We would get more involved if we had something that was like  a rural fire department didn’t have the staff to be able to handle it. Or it’s maybe an apartment complex or a senior complex…What can we do to help support shelters and operations? Are there pet needs that might need to be there?… So, the Red Cross is one of those key partners in that as well.”

Emergency Response Hero: Fond du Lac Fire Rescue, Fond du Lac (Fond du Lac County

The Fond du Lac Fire Rescue team in Fond du Lac is the Emergency Response Hero for 2025. Fond du Lac Fire Chief Erick Gerritson said part of working with the Red Cross is also supporting the Red Cross.

“Every year we have a big brat fry that benefits American Red Cross, and we give all the proceeds that we make from that brat fry. We’ve been very successful because the community supports us. So we have decided to support Red Cross through that,” said Gerritson.

He added that in addition to the yearly brat fry, the fire department also organizes four blood drives a year at the fire station.

“ We know that Red Cross has a very important job. They fill that void of getting blood to people. We know there’s a national shortage of that. Beyond disaster relief, they help with fire relief, smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors. They help all those programs. And that all directly affects our department. So we stand behind the Red Cross and we try to help them as much as we can,” said Garritson.

Gerritson said as fire chief he’s in a unique position to be able to see the Red Cross in action. 

“Not only disasters, when we have big events, like we’ve had a couple of floods in the city, they have come out with that. But actually, every single fire that we have after the fire, we utilize Red Cross for homing those people so they can get a place to sleep if their house is uninhabitable for the night or even for a couple nights,” Gerritson explained. “So we’ll call Red Cross. They’re always there for us. They’ll give gift cards. They’ll put people up in hotels overnight for a few nights if needed. So they’re always there for our community. So we thought, let’s give back. They support us, and we make a lot of money for the Red Cross at that brat fry.”

Gerritson said the next brat fry to support the Red Cross by the Fond du Lac Fire Rescue will be in May of 2026. He said they try to schedule it to be the first brat fry of the season.

Good Samaritan Hero: Dominique McQueen, Wausau (Marathon County)

The next “Local Hero” for the American Red Cross is honored, not for her blood donations, although she said she does donate blood regularly to the Red Cross, but rather for her quick thinking and action. 

Dominique McQueen lives in Green Bay, but she works in Wausau as a public defender. That’s where her story of being the Good Samaritan Hero for 2025 starts, in the Marathon County Courthouse.

“I was in court one day, and there was a gentleman in the gallery. We thought at first he was sleeping. He was kind of making some snoring noises. The judge thought he was sleeping. The judge banged his gavel, and the DA was like, ‘I don’t think he’s okay.’ She’s like, ‘Can I go approach him?’” said McQueen. She’s like, ‘I don’t think he’s okay. We need to call 9-1-1.’ So I jumped up and asked her to help me get him down to the floor. I performed CPR on him until court security could get there.”

To put it bluntly, Dominique McQueen, through fast thinking and knowledge of CPR, saved the man’s life.

“At a previous job, I got CPR certified. So that’s how I knew how to do that,” said McQueen. “It was terrifying, and I still don’t know how I did it. I just acted, and afterwards, I’m pretty sure I was in shock for just a couple hours after that.”

McQueen advises everyone to take a course in CPR.

“I would ask everybody that is able to to get CPR certified. Because honestly, it’s something you hope you never have to use, but if you’re ever in that situation, you wanna be able to do it,” she said.

Youth & Young Adult Heroes: Oshkosh North Communities Program, Oshkosh (Winnebago County)

The Youth and Young Adult Heroes for 2025 are the students at the Oshkosh North Communities program in Oshkosh. Teacher Richard Lieb said their story started when the students were discussing current events, specifically the wildfires that devastated much of California. 

The students wanted to help. So they held a “Cutest Pets” fundraiser. That event raised almost $1,500 for the Red Cross to use to help victims of the wildfires in California.

“But I think what’s really cool about it is that not only did we raise money,” Lieb said. “But I think we started to understand what the Red Cross really does and the impact it does have. Then we were able to tell that story for the Red Cross. We had 80 kids serving as the megaphone for the American Red Cross.”

The students of Communities at Oshkosh North worked quickly to raise the money when it was needed.

“ I think we tried to turn this around in about a week and a half. So we pushed projects aside because of the timeliness,” Lieb said. “We understand the news cycle. Things come and go, and we wanted to hit when it was still on the headlines. And then we reached out to the American Red Cross in Northeast Wisconsin. The next thing you know, we had Rebecca (Rockhill) meeting with us. And away we went with it.”

Lieb added that helping the Red Cross was a way to also show how much students care and want to do good in their communities.

“ For organizations like the Red Cross to open their doors to young adults and give them a shot, I just appreciate that they were able to do that. I just think that everybody thinks they (the students) just stare at their phones,” said Lieb. “Our program’s all about giving kids a shot. The American Red Cross gave these kids a shot, and we were able to make an impact.”

For more information, please visit our website at redcross.org/wisconsin. 

About the American Red Cross

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or follow us on social media.