Two Greenwich residents were honored earlier this month at the American Red Cross Metro New York North Chapter's Volunteer Recognition Awards — recognition for the kind of quiet, sustained work that rarely makes headlines but keeps a community safer every single day.

Ted Berenblum, a lifelong Greenwich resident, received the Disaster Preparedness Award. As vice president of the chapter's board of directors, Berenblum leads emergency preparedness education for volunteers and board members across the region, and organizes First Aid, CPR and AED certification classes to keep the board itself ready to respond.

Anneliese Ashley, also of Greenwich, received the Operations and Administration Support Award for her three years on the Red & White Ball Junior Committee, including a year as co-chair. Her work helped organize this year's Ruby Red & White Ball, which raised more than $1.4 million for the Red Cross mission. Chapter CEO Stephanie Dunn Ashley — who happens to be Anneliese's mother — was careful to note the achievement stood on its own merit. "While I admit I am an exceptionally proud mother, Anneliese earned this recognition through her own dedication, leadership, and hard work," she wrote.

The evening's highest distinction, the Clara Barton Honor Award for Meritorious Volunteer Leadership, went to Marty Kanengiser, who spent seven years building the chapter's Home Fire Campaign into what Ashley called a nationally recognized model — a program that provides fire safety education and free smoke alarm installations across the region, the kind of preventative work that quietly saves lives long before anyone notices.

Other honorees included Mitch Weitzner for disaster response, Sharon Zuckerman for family recovery support, Bob Mulligan for operational readiness, Allison Bergman for military family support, Susan Shansky for blood donor services, Alex Poku for community outreach and CPR instruction, and Mary Dwyer for leading the Home Fire Campaign's local installations. Ashley, who is herself a volunteer EMT with Greenwich EMS and president of the Cos Cob Fire Police Patrol, summed up what connects all of them. "None of them volunteered in hopes of receiving an award," she wrote. "They simply cared about something bigger than themselves."

The Red Cross Metro New York North Chapter, headquartered on Indian Field Road in Greenwich, serves Westchester County, Rockland County, Greenwich, and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The Greenwich chapter dates back to 1914, and its Jill and John Coyle Blood Donor Center accepts walk-ins and appointments six days a week.