The Red Cross will honor three Town of Westport employees at its 16th annual American Red Cross Community Heroes Breakfast set for January 30 in Stamford.

David Ellis, Joseph Bairaktaris, Jr. and former co-worker Ian Chasnow will receive the Life Saving Hero Award. The men are responsible for saving the life of co-worker for quick thinking that saved a co-worker who suffered a heart attack at work. “Doc” Kashka who suffered a heart attack at work.

Joseph Bairaktaris, Jr., and David Ellis were working at the Ned Dimes Marina on Compo Beach when Kashka suffered a heart attack at the nearby basketball courts. Together with former co-worker Ian Chasnow, the men administered CPR to Kashka until emergency personnel arrived with an AED and took over care.

In a citation honoring the men for their actions in saving their colleague, Westport First Selectman James Marpe cited the group’s swift and professional actions displaying “extraordinary composure.”

“Joseph, David and Ian are true heroes for stepping forward to save a life,” said American Red Cross Connecticut and Rhode Island Region CEO Mario Bruno. “They represent the Red Cross ideal of knowing how to save a life with CPR and First Aid training and taking action to do so.”

The breakfast will be held at the Stamford Marriott Hotel and Spa, 243 Tresser Boulevard. Breakfast is served at 7:30 a.m. Registration begins at 7:00 a.m. Tickets for the event are $40. Wells Fargo is Statewide Leadership Sponsor. Emcee will be Tom Appleby, News Director and Anchor with NEWS12 Connecticut. Tickets are $40 each and must be purchased in advance. To purchase tickets online, visit http://www.redcross.org/ct/heroes.

The other honorees at this year’s breakfast are:

• Workplace Hero Award: General Electric, for its commitment to supporting American Red Cross disaster relief work and programs as well as its outstanding philanthropic and volunteer commitment to communities across Connecticut and the nation.
• Community Resilience Award: The City of Norwalk, for its multiple programs to better support its citizens and strengthen its infrastructure in disaster preparedness, response and recovery.
• Military Hero Award: Alfred Meadows, of Huntington, a U.S. Army veteran, Purple Heart Medal recipient and founder of “Operation Gift Cards,” which has presented more than 17,000 thank you kits valued at more than $800,000 to wounded troops and additional military support groups.
• Spirit of the Red Cross Award: The Echo Hose Hook & Ladder Company 1, in Shelton, for their extraordinary work at a major fire in Shelton, in which they successfully evacuated 28 residents from the building, directly rescuing five of those residents. In the days after the fire, the fire company became a central point of coordination to support the recovery needs for the building residents.
• Water Safety Award: Brenda Moratoya, of Stamford, for her role in saving a drowning swimmer off Cummings Beach in Stamford last summer.

More information about the heroes is available at the Connecticut Red Cross Blog.

The American Red Cross Community Heroes Breakfast is set for Friday, January 30, at the Stamford Marriott Hotel & Spa, 243 Tresser Boulevard, Stamford. Statewide Leadership Sponsor is Wells Fargo. News12 Connecticut News Director and Anchor Tom Appleby will serve as Emcee. Registration is at 7:00 a.m. and breakfast is served at 7:30 a.m. Tickets are $40 each and must be purchased in advance. To purchase tickets online, visit www.redcross.org/ct/heroes. For more information about the event or to reserve tickets contact Melissa Fazzio at (860) 678-2724 or email her at Melissa.Fazzio@redcross.org.