Red Cross Helps Allegheny County Libraries Prepare Patrons for Flu Season
PITTSBURGH – With extensive reference materials, computers and class offerings, Allegheny County libraries provide a wealth of information to the community. Amid flu season, however, the America
PITTSBURGH – The holidays are a time for excitement, celebration and laughter. With this holiday season quickly approaching, people throughout the region are decorating homes; while the American
Red Cross Urges Local Residents to Use Fire Alarms
PITTSBURGH - The American Red Cross Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter wants you to be safe and ready in the case of a fire. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) release
October 29, 2008 Foster Grandparent Program Fall Volunteer Drive Slated
PITTSBURGH - If you’re a senior, age 60-or-older, looking to help shape the lives of American’s youth but not sure how to go about helping, this is your opportunity.
The Foster Grandparent Program (FGP) of Southwestern Pennsylvania is holding its Fall Volunteer Drive Nov. 3 through Nov. 7. Sponsored by the American Red Cross Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter, the Foster Grandparent Program - a federal grant program - gives income-eligible seniors age 60-or-over the opportunity to serve as role models for children and adolescents who are considered special need, exceptional and/or at-risk.
Typically, Foster Grandparents work up to 20 hours per week in schools, homes, hospitals, drug treatment centers, Head Start Programs and similar facilities. Foster Grandparents work directly with these children, helping them with homework, playing games and teaching them important life lessons. Foster Grandparents are not asked to house or live with these children.
“Foster Grandparents serve a very vital role in our community,” said Michael Parker, Director of the Foster Grandparent Program of Southwestern Pennsylvania. “They help to improve the quality of life of these young individuals, which helps to improve the entire community.”
Foster Grandparents receive a modest, non-taxable stipend and are provided reimbursement for out-of-pocked and travel expenses. For more information or to become a Foster Grandparent, call 412-263-3168 or email ParkerM@usa.redcross.org.
October 28, 2008 With Holidays Approaching, November the Ideal Time to Get Trained
PITTSBURGH - The holidays are rapidly approaching, and that means parties with friends and large family gatherings. These festive celebrations also bring dangers, such as choking, over-eating or stress-related heart emergencies. Would you know what to do if a loved one started choking during Thanksgiving dinner?
Now is the perfect time to get prepared. The American Red Cross Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter will offer training in First Aid, CPR and AED in Downtown Pittsburgh next month.
Classes in First Aid, Adult CPR/AED, Child and Infant CPR - along with combination classes combining the various programs - will be offered at the Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter’s locations in Downtown Pittsburgh, Uniontown and Washington.
For more information or to register, call 412-263-3193 or visit swpa.redcross.org.
Getting trained is one of the four key ways you can help you and your family be prepared for any emergency. The local Red Cross is encouraging all residents of Southwestern Pennsylvania to make a “Promise to Prepare” for any disaster by getting trained, volunteering, building a kit and creating a family disaster plan. For more information, or to make your promise, visit swpa.redcross.org.
October 23, 2008 Red Cross Partners with Grizzard Communications Group
PITTSBURGH - The American Red Cross Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter has secured the services of the Grizzard Communications Group to perform online and direct mail initiatives.
The Atlanta-based Grizzard is an industry leader in integrated, direct response marketing and fundraising. The 89-year-old company is one of the top 10 direct response firms in the United States specializing in integrated fundraising initiatives including direct mail, online integration and alternative media.
“Grizzard has a proven track record of maximizing an organization’s fundraising efforts and achieving goals by cultivating donor relations and creating new ones,” said Pat D’Alba, Grizzard’s Senior Vice President. “This relationship with the American Red Cross Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter is particularly important to us, and we are confident our campaigns for this organization will be ambitious and effective.”
Grizzard is a natural fit for the local Red Cross, which is adjusting its fundraising strategy. Grizzard’s projects will give the Red Cross more control of segmenting mailings and targeting donors, which will help the organization cultivate relationships.
“We are thrilled and excited to start working with Grizzard,” said Tom Wiese, Financial Development Officer for the local Red Cross. “Grizzard really listens to our needs and will help us to accomplish long term goals of reaching more donors in Southwestern Pennsylvania, which will better equip out chapter to assist disaster victims.”
The American Red Cross is not a government agency; it relies on the generous donations of individuals and companies to support its disaster relief operations.
Locally, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter serves more than 1.6 million individuals in Allegheny, Fayette, Greene and Washington counties and responds to a disaster an average of once every day and nearly 400 each year. Red Cross volunteers assist victims with their immediate disaster needs, such as food, clothing, shelter and emotional support.
Additionally, the local Red Cross facilitates more than, 2,600 emergency messages between local families and their loved ones serving abroad in the military annually. Each year, the Red Cross also trains nearly 50,000 individuals right here in Southwestern Pennsylvania in CPR and other lifesaving skills.
For more information on the American Red Cross Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter, or to make a donation, visit swpa.redcorss.org. For more information on Grizzard, visit Grizzard.com.
October 13, 2008 Red Cross Offers Tips to Keep Your Halloween Safe
PITTSBURGH - As Halloween approaches, many children will be thinking excitedly about their costumes, trick-or-treating with their friends, and getting as much candy as they can. However, both children and parents also need to be thinking about enjoying Halloween safely. The American Red Cross Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter offers the following safety tips can help this Halloween season be a fun one, and not one that is full of accidents, falls, and other problems:
Accept treats only at the door. Never enter a stranger’s house.
Inspect candy closely before eating it. Candy with opened or torn wrappers should be thrown away. Small candy should not be given to very young children, as it is a choking hazard.
Only trick-or-treat at houses with the lights on. These houses are safer to visit than houses that are dark. Do not walk on the lawns.
Be careful of strangers and animals. Be especially careful to avoid stray dogs.
Use your street smarts. Walk on the sidewalk, not the street, whenever possible. Look both ways before crossing and only cross at the corners. Never cross or hide between cars.
Make your costume as visible as possible. Wear light colors and attach reflective tape to your clothing and props, such as broomsticks. Also put reflective tapes on bicycles, skooters, and skateboards.
Use face paint instead of masks. Masks make it harder to for you to see, making it more likely for you to fall or have an accident.
Be careful near candles and other open flames. Costumes can be very flammable, and long capes or dresses can be particularly easy to catch fire. Glow sticks should be used in your jack-o-lanterns instead of candles.
Carry a flashlight. Using a flashlight will help you better see your way and help cars better see you.
Plan your trick-or-treating route. Accompany children on the route, and share this route with the children and anybody that is waiting for you at home.
For more information on the local Red Cross, including additional safety tips, visit swpa.redcross.org.
October 9, 2008 Oakmont's Theresa Creighan Volunteer of the Month for October
PITTSBURGH - It’s been a nice autumn in the Pittsburgh area, but Oakmont’s Theresa Creighan wouldn’t know it. Creighan - a volunteer with the American Red Cross Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter - has spent most of the last two months in the Gulf Coast Region, assisting the victims of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Because of this heroic effort, Creighan was named the local Chapter’s Volunteer of the Month for October.
During late August, when Hurricane Gustav was wreaking havoc in the Gulf of Mexico and heading for Louisiana, the Red Cross moved a massive contingent of volunteers and supplies to the region.
Creighan was among the first volunteers from the local chapter to deploy; on Aug. 27, she departed for Hattiesburg, Miss., to assist with staffing efforts as part of the Gustav relief operation; it was her 20th national deployment in her four years as a Red Cross volunteer.
While in the Gulf working on Gustav operations, an even more destructive storm - Hurricane Ike - slammed into the region. On Sept. 13, Creighan moved to a Red Cross operation in Baton Rouge, La., again lending her staffing expertise.
Initially, Creighan planned on staying in the gulf until Sept. 19, a standard three-week deployment. She needed to be home for a wedding on Sept. 20, and, initially, that did not look like it would be a problem. But Ike had other ideas; when Creighan saw the wide-spread destruction from the massive storm, she couldn’t walk away from the relief efforts.
She flew back to Pittsburgh Sept. 19, attended the wedding on the Sept. 20, then flew back to the Gulf on Monday, Sept. 22 - her 21st national deployment - and remained there until Oct. 9, another full three-week effort. The sum total of Creighan’s recent deployments is staggering; she voluntarily spent 39 of 42 days deployed in the Gulf region.
Creighan is also active as a local volunteer with the Red Cross, frequently responding to local disasters and assisting with media relations for the chapter. On national deployments, she has an abundance of experience in shelter operations and performing disaster assessment casework, and because of this broad experience, Creighan is now one of the key staffing volunteers for the entire Red Cross.
Staffing volunteers are among the first to be deployed to national disasters. They then recruit additional volunteers and place them in specific roles and locations based on the needs of that particular disaster. She also coordinates their travel, housing and even makes sure they have access to health services. It is a role Creighan finds very gratifying.
“The volunteers are my clients,” she said. “If they’re not taken care of and in the right places, they can’t help victims.”
Creighan said that leaving her family for weeks at a time to help others is hard, especially on this particular deployment when she was gone for more than a month.
“That is the most difficult part, you really miss your family,” she said. “But it’s hard to leave [the disaster scene] before the job is done and when people still need help.”
The rewards of volunteering far outweigh the burdens for Creighan, who called volunteering with the Red Cross her “passion.” She encourages anyone and everyone to volunteer with the Red Cross.
“This could happen to you in a heart beat,” she said. “If you’re willing to give a little bit of time to someone you don’t know, you ‘pay it forward.’ It could be your house that burns down someday, and there could be someone there to listen to you and help you. During a disaster, if someone is there to listen, the healing process begins immediately. Volunteering to help people, that’s key to our society.”
The ongoing Red Cross response to hurricanes Gustav and Ike is enormous. Below is a list of facts regarding the Red Cross relief response to these storms.
In the last 30 days, the Red Cross has opened more than 900 shelters to house displaced hurricane victims.
There have been nearly 400,000 overnight stays in Red Cross shelters since Hurricane Gustav hit.
More than 18,000 Red Cross volunteers have been deployed to the region.
As of this week, the Red Cross is still serving approximately 80,000 meals per day to hurricane victims, many of whom remain without power.
Such a massive relief effort combined with a record number of tornados this year, the worst flooding in the Midwest in 15 years and an early wildfire season have drained the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. The Red Cross is not a government agency and relies on the donations of individuals and companies to provide disaster relief services.
To donate, or for more information on becoming a Red Cross volunteer, call 1-888-217-9599 or visit swpa.redcross.org.
October 8, 2008 Local Red Cross Partnering with Qdoba Mexican Grill
PITTSBURGH - What’s better than eating delicious food at Qdoba Mexican Grill? Eating delicious Mexican food at Qdoba while donating to the American Red Cross!
From Monday, Oct. 20 through Friday, Oct. 24, Qdoba Mexican Grill locations in downtown Pittsburgh will donate $1 to the American Red Cross Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter for every entrée with a drink that is purchased by a patron presenting a Bonus Bucks flyer.
Simply visit swpa.redcross.org and print out the flyer, then take it to a participating Qdoba restaurant from 2-6 p.m. any day between October 20 and 24. When you present the flyer and purchase an entrée with a drink, Qdoba will generously donate $1 to your local Red Cross. Proceeds will support Red Cross disaster relief, disaster preparedness, first aid training, CPR training and other life-saving programs.
Participating Qdoba Restaurant’s include locations at 808 Liberty Ave. and 601 Grant St. in downtown Pittsburgh.
For more information on this program or your local Red Cross visit swpa.redcross.org or call 1-888-217-9599.
October 7, 2008 A Month Later, Hurricane Relief Efforts Continue
PITTSBURGH - While the destructive storms of 2008 are no longer on the minds of most people in this part of the country, Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike are fresh in the memories of people in the Gulf Coast region, where a massive relief operation by the American Red Cross continues.
News coverage of these brutal storms has dwindled, but recovery efforts are continuing, and will for the foreseeable future. More than five weeks after Gustav hit Louisiana and nearly a month after Ike made landfall in Texas, the American Red Cross is still providing approximately 80,000 meals per day to affected victims of these disasters.
Additionally, the Red Cross responded to a record number of tornados this year, the worst flooding in the Midwest in 15 years and an early wildfire season.
Below is a list of facts regarding the Red Cross response to recent disasters.
In the last 30 days, the Red Cross has opened more than 900 shelters and served more than 11 million meals and snacks.
Also in the last 30 days, more than 18,000 volunteers were deployed to national disasters, the majority to Gustav and Ike relief operations.
The Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter deployed a total of 19 volunteers and staff to Hurricane Ike and Gustav relief operations; two volunteers remain in the region today to assist with ongoing relief efforts.
The Red Cross has spent $263 million on disaster relief operations since September 2007; as a result, the National Disaster Relief Fund is depleted. The Red Cross is in need of donations from the public to continue to fund relief efforts.
DONATION/VOLUNTEER INFO: The American Red Cross is not a government agency; we rely on the donations of private individuals and companies to fund the vast majority of disaster relief operations. To make a donation or for more information, click here or call 1-888-217-9599.
Additionally, the Red Cross has set up its “Give 2 Help” text message donation program. By simply texting the word “Give” to “2HELP” (24357), you can donate $5 to the Disaster Relief Fund; charges will be applied on your cell phone bill.
All donations will help the Red Cross purchase food, cots, blankets, toiletries, cleanup supplies as well as operate shelters and provide meals to evacuees and victims.
For information on becoming a volunteer, click here or call 412-263-3100.
October 3, 2008 Red Cross Offers Fire Safety Tips for National Fire Prevention Week
PITTSBURGH - Next week is National Fire Prevention Week, and the American Red Cross Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter wants to help you protect your home and your family.
Fire victims can tell you how such disasters can devastate so many aspects of their lives. Jill Landsbaugh felt the destruction of a fire when her Edgewood apartment building went up in flames earlier this year. She and her boyfriend, Joel Kaar, came home from lunch to find most of their possessions destroyed.
“There was smoke and fire coming out of the unit next to ours, and we knew that it was not likely we were going to be able to salvage anything from our home,” she said.
National Fire Prevention Week begins Sunday, Oct. 5 and runs through Saturday, Oct. 11; since most fires happen during cold weather months, we are only now entering the primary fire season.
“As the colder temperatures move into the region, often families will begin using alternative heating sources to heat their homes,” said Mike Adametz, Emergency Services Director for the local Red Cross. “Alternative heating sources are among the most common causes of fires, so it is very important for families to take be extra cautious this time of year.”
Nationally, Fire Departments responded to almost 400,000 home fires in 2006 which resulted in 2,865 deaths; in Southwestern Pennsylvania, the Red Cross responds to approximately 400 fires each year. The numbers are staggering, but the good news is that home fires are one of the few disasters that can be prevented. Below is a list of tips to help protect your home and help reduce the chances of destructive blazes.
Fire Safety Tips - Use these tips to prepare your home and family:
Smoke Alarms - Having smoke alarms in your home can save your life. Alarms should be installed on every level of the home, outside of the kitchen and in every sleeping area. Proper maintenance of smoke alarms requires monthly tests, replacing batteries annually and replacing the actual alarm every 10 years.
Fire Extinguishers - Have one or more working fire extinguishers in your home.
Home Escape Plan - Home fire escape plans should include at least two ways to escape from every room of your home. Also, select a meeting spot at a safe distance from your home where family members can go after escaping. After discussing your plan with all members of your household, you should practice your plan at least twice a year.
Emergency Kit - Build an emergency supplies kit and keep it in a convenient place in case you have to evacuate your home quickly. Among the supplies you should keep in your kit are extra clothes, blankets, medicines, first aid supplies, important documents, canned food, a can opener and water. For a complete list of items to include, visit swpa.redcross.org.
Emergency Numbers - Post local emergency services phone numbers (usually 9-1-1) and the Poison Control Center near every telephone in the home.
Check Appliances - Make sure all of your electrical appliances are working properly and unplug everything if you will be away from your home for an extended period of time.
Safe Heating - Avoid using space heaters when possible. If using, do not put space heaters too close to furniture, curtains or other materials that could ignite. Contact heating and cooling professionals to inspect your chimney and heating system annually.
Flammable Materials - Keep combustible/flammable items and materials, such as curtains, chairs and firewood at least three feet away from stoves, portable space heaters, furnaces, clothes dryers, etc.
Smoking Hazards - Never smoke in bed or when you are lying down so you don’t fall asleep.
Outlets - Do not plug several appliances or lamps into the same outlet. Run extension cords only on top of floors and carpets not under them.
Candles - You should never leave candles unattended and be careful when you have them around small children and pets because they can knock them over. The top five days for home candle fires are Christmas, Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day and Halloween. Use flashlights, not candles, for emergency lighting if you lose power.
While the Red Cross ready to help anyone affected by a fire, it is always best to be prepared for disasters before they happen. Having a family disaster plan and building an emergency kit are two of the ways you can make a “Promise to Prepare” for any disaster. For more information on disaster preparedness, or to make your promise, visit swpa.redcross.org.
October 3, 2008 Red Cross Recruiting Volunteers for Community Shelter Teams in North, West Suburbs
PITTSBURGH - Residents throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania remember all-too-well the destructive flooding from Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
Hopefully, area waters will not rise again, but if they do, the American Red Cross Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter is helping the region become better prepared to handle destructive floods.
The local Red Cross is recruiting volunteers to man community evacuation shelter teams the communities near Pine Creek and Girty’s Run, specifically in Millvale, Etna, Aspinwall, Sharpsburg and the surrounding areas. Similarly, the Red Cross is recruiting volunteers for community evacuation shelter teams in the western suburban communities of Bridgeville, Carnegie, Crafton, Green Tree, Heidelberg, Ingram.
The chapter is not looking for first-responders, who would already be part of disaster relief operations, but rather lay citizens and community groups. The presence of these teams make self-sufficient, quick responding communities that can rapidly establish emergency evacuation shelters during times of disaster.
Thanks to a grant from the United States Steel Foundation, the local Red Cross will provide shelter trailers - containing the equipment necessary to house displaced residents in the event of flooding or other large-scale disasters - to selected communities. All that is needed is interested groups of volunteers to serve on the teams.
“We are looking for community groups and interested individuals to form teams in these vulnerable communities so that the community can become better prepared should another disaster strike,” said Mike Adametz, Emergency Services Director with the local Red Cross. “I would encourage any Rotary Club, church group or other community organization that is interested in helping during times of disasters to contact me.”
While community shelter teams are designed to be self-sufficient, they do operate in cooperation with the Red Cross and training is required. Interested groups or individuals can reach Adametz at 412-263-3141 or AdametzM@usa.redcross.org.
Background: The local Red Cross devised the model for community shelter teams following the destructive floods of Hurricane Ivan 2004. In the immediate hours and days following those floods, the local Red Cross received 35 requests for shelter assistance. So much simultaneous demand stretched chapter’s resources thin; the idea arose to train individuals in flood-prone communities to quickly establish shelters on their own.
By pre-positioning shelter equipment, supplies and Red Cross-trained “citizen responders” in flood-prone areas, communities become more self-sufficient. The result is fast-responding teams that can quickly establish evacuation shelters to house displaced victims immediately following disasters.
A shelter response by the Red Cross itself - which often is addressing numerous emergences simultaneously during large scale disasters and has to mobilizing volunteers from across the region - could take up to four hours; a community team response may take just 20 minutes.
“Towns understandably rely on the Red Cross to provide shelter when there’s an emergency, and the Red Cross is ready to help anyone, anywhere in times of disaster,” said Adametz. “But it’s always a better to partner with communities to have a system in place to enable them to sustain themselves until additional help from other agencies, such as the Red Cross, can arrive. When residents from within a community itself can establish a shelter, that helps with response time, which benefits those affected by the disaster.”
The Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter launched the community shelter program in five communities in Allegheny County in July 2006 and now has 14 teams in flood-prone areas in Allegheny, Washington and Fayette Counties. The goal of the local Red Cross is to have 50 teams by 2012 in Allegheny, Washington, Fayette and Greene counties.
Proven Success: The program has already proven to be invaluable. Just days before Christmas last year, a fire ravaged a senior citizen apartment complex in North Versailles, and the East McKeesport and White Oak community shelter teams established a shelter in the East Allegheny Junior/Senior High School Gymnasium providing a safe haven for 59 individuals left homeless by the blaze. Similarly, in response to local flooding in August 2007, all of the community shelter teams in Allegheny County were activated, and in April of 2007, the East McKeesport community shelter team opened up and manned a shelter following a large-scale apartment fire.
