It's the stuff of adventure stories: rescuing victims from the ruins of fire, flood or terrorist act, reuniting siblings separated for more than a half century by the horrors of the Holocaust. And it's all in your own backyard at the American Red Cross of Northern New Jersey.

"These are the real heroes," said chapter Chairman Keith Lynott of the volunteers who rush to disaster sites, teach others to perform first aid and CPR and help military personnel and their families during deployment and in times of trouble.

"It's very patriotic," Lynott said, noting the Red Cross has a federal statutory duty to assist the U.S. armed forces although it receives not a penny of federal funding, operating on donations alone.

Challenges of all dimensions are met by the chapter that now encompasses Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic and Warren counties. When Lynott first walked into the Fairfield headquarters 15 years ago, he was awed by the world's largest volunteer operation to create Braille textbooks. The books are used by blind and visually impaired people nationwide.

"It began at the end of World War I in anticipation of troops coming home who would be blinded by poison gas attacks," Lynott said. "Eventually it matured into a service that provides Braille textbooks for blind students. Volunteers take any textbook you can think of, including math and science, charts included, and convert it into a Braille version. The student can then participate in the class with any other students who are using those textbooks."

Lynott, who practices environmental law in Newark, said the integrity, compassion and effectiveness of the Red Cross is unmatched. "It's something I've fallen in love with," Lynott said. "The Red Cross is certainly an organization worthy of your time, your effort and your talents."

Last year, the chapter volunteers provided comfort and assistance to the victims of 247 local disasters including fires, floods, blackouts, building collapses, hazardous material spills and other emergencies. Volunteers also collected nearly 9,000 pints of blood and taught more than 45,000 people life-saving skills.

Then there are days like Sept. 11, 2001. "The response to the 9/11 tragedy was incredible. It was the most difficult event of my 15 years with the Red Cross. We had disaster response vehicles and volunteers at Ground Zero in the immediate aftermath and then for many months. We have responsibility for Newark airport, which was the departure point for one of the flights, so we were doing a lot of mental health counseling that night and in the days that followed."

Tragedy is a constant but there are happy endings, too. Part of the mission of the Red Cross is to help families in distress, so the chapter is involved in Holocaust "tracing," an effort to find family members who went missing during the Nazi atrocities of World War II.

"One of our board members was part of a team that did all the work and research and reunited a Ukrainian brother and sister separated by more than 55 years as a result of WWII. That just absolutely blew me away," Lynott said. "It reminded me how great the Red Cross is and how vital a service we provide."

Click here to get involved with your local Red Cross.

Editor's note: The Neighborhood Files series is being sponsored by the Pepsi Refresh Project, www.refresheverything.com. Pepsi did not write this article or have any say in its reporting, editing, or production. The topic was chosen, and the content was produced by our editorial staff.