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The American Red Cross of the Delmarva Peninsula held its yearly volunteer orientation Tuesday, March 11, at the Rehoboth Beach Public Library. At the meeting, prospective members learned how their talents can be used to help fellow Delawareans in emergency situations.
Representing the American Red Cross were Sarah Gilmour, manager of volunteer services for the association, and disaster services volunteer Stan Mills. The organization’s Delmarva chapter currently provides services to more than 1 million people in Delaware and Caroline, Cecil, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties in Maryland.
Mills, one of the group’s 700 local volunteers, has served the Red Cross throughout the region and on a national level. He began the orientation by recalling the events that caused him to first enroll in the organization.
“I joined the Red Cross on a national level in response to Hurricane Katrina,” said Mills who is a resident of Rehoboth Beach. “After taking an abbreviated training course, I was sent to help with the effort. We set up emergency aid stations and many times we would unload 10 trucks with supplies, set up tents and distribute food.”
During this time, Mills and more than 240,000 Red Cross volunteers helped thousands of Louisiana residents whose homes had been damaged or destroyed by flooding. With just two weeks of training, Mills was able to provide the essentials for the victims to start their recovery.
“The amazing thing is how simple it is to become a volunteer of the Red Cross,” said Mills. After completion of a small number of orientation courses, many of which are free of charge, volunteers are able to go out into the community and start helping others.
Red Cross courses cover everything from teaching CPR to advanced emergency response. Currently, the organization is the No. 1 health and safety instructor provider in the United States as well as the top facilitator of communication assistance between loved ones and families of those in the Armed Forces.
In fact, the Red Cross prides itself on providing assistance to Americans in a variety of different ways, explained Gilmour. “We recognize the talents of our volunteers by allowing them to help with the things they do the best,” she said. “Some people are very good at fundraising and others may be good at teaching and managerial skills. There is a whole realm of ways for people to help.”
Last year, Gilmour’s Delmarva chapter was able to respond to 177 local disasters. The volunteer team trained more than 17,000 people in lifesaving skills and gave Community Disaster Education presentations to more than 27,000 people.
Many are surprised to hear that 97 to 98 percent of the workforce of the Red Cross consists of non-paid volunteers. The organization Volunteer
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is also completely donor supported with no government funding to carry on its mission. “Many people who we have helped over the years have told me that they would have no idea what they would have done without the help of the Red Cross,” said Gilmour.
“Our volunteers have also found it very personally rewarding to come to the aid of people in need.” Volunteers are always needed, said Gilmour. “From emergency response to fundraising, there’s an opportunity for everyone. By giving of time, our volunteers are helping to ‘change a life.’” For more information or to make a donation to the Red Cross of the Delmarva Peninsula, call 800-777-6620 or visit www.redcrossdelmarva.org.
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Red Cross fundraisers set March 27
A “Paint the Town Red” fundraiser will be held at various Cape Region restaurants for the benefit of the Red Cross of Delmarva Thursday, March 27.
During the evening, participating restaurants will donate 10 percent of dinner proceeds to the organization. The fundraiser currently includes 1776 Colonial Club Restaurant and Steakhouse in Midway Shopping Center, the Buttery Restaurant in Lewes, Jimmy’s Grill on Route 404 in Bridgeville and Bethany Blues in Bethany Beach. Other participating restaurants can be found on the Red Cross website.
The Red Cross currently has two offices in Delaware. The Northern Delmarva office in Wilmington is located at 100 W. 10th St., Suite 501. It can be reached at 656-6620. The Southern Delmarva office is located in Seaford at 523 N. Market St. and can be reached toll free at 1-800-777-6620.
Tom Walsh can be contacted at tomwalsh1@verizon.net
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