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Local Red Cross to host chapter meeting
Oct 15, 2009
October 15, 2009 11:17 am
— The Pine Belt Chapter of the American Red Cross will host a special meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday at their office at 401 West Oak Street.
Peggy Owens-Mansfield, executive director of the Pine Belt Chapter, said Tuesday that all past and present disaster volunteers and those interested in volunteering are invited to attend.
“We’re having a ‘State of the Chapter’ meeting,” Owens-Mansfield said. “We’ll be finding out what classes our volunteers are interested in and get those classes planned. We’re also trying to establish Disaster Action Teams (DATs) in the counties we represent including Jones, Smith, Wayne and Jasper.”
Owens-Mansfield said the DATs respond to such incidents as single-family fires, which the Red Cross will respond to more than 150 this year.
“In the past, families have been able to come into the office to request help,” she said. “But, now we’re trying to respond on the scene when it’s happening. We will talk to the family and provide a client assistance card.”
Owens-Mansfield said disaster volunteers will supply comfort care kits that include food and hygiene items.
“When you have to replace toothbrushes for six people or shampoo, it gets expensive,” she said. “We use donated supplies the community collects for us. We also have food drives going on in the schools to help support this program.”
Owens-Mansfield said volunteers are easier to find in Jones County, but the Red Cross also needs local volunteers in Smith, Wayne and Jasper counties.
“We’re always specifically looking for people that work in the health services such as LPNs, RNs and EMTs,” she said. “We’re always looking for mental health workers, which is a big issue that we need to address. We’re also looking for the general guy or girl who wants to be part of disaster response.”
Owens-Mansfield said Thursday’s meeting is also necessary because background checks and complete medical histories are required following Hurricane Katrina.
“It’s not a big issue in most cases, but it requires a little bit more than it used to,” she said. “We’re bringing in people that haven’t done that yet, and also encouraging those who may have an interest.”
Owens-Mansfield noted that just because someone has a full-time job doesn’t mean they can’t still be a Red Cross volunteer.
“For instance, during Katrina, most everything was closed down for a week,” she said. “Or, you can volunteer on a weekend or just come in to the shelter and help out one night. We need people to drive ERV, our emergency response vehicle which we serve food out of, nurses and health care people, and client case work people.
“The main thing is we’re looking for somebody who’s interested,” Owens-Mansfield added. “We’ll help them figure out what department they want to be in. We always need leadership, somebody who’s willing to step up and say they’ll be the coordinator of the shelter managers or disaster teams. There’s no reason why anybody can’t volunteer.”
The Pine Belt Chapter will be also be serving spaghetti for its volunteers Thursday night. However, reservations are asked to be made to the Chapter office prior to the event.
For more information, call Peggy Owens-Mansfield, executive director, or Beth Henson, volunteer coordinator, at 601-426-9071.
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