Red Cross helps Haven family of four

WINTER HAVEN, FL (May 30, 2008 ) — A family of four had a kitchen fire Friday afternoon, but shortly after that, American Red Cross volunteers arrived to help.
After being called at 5 p.m. Friday, Red Cross volunteers visited the home on Avenue W, NW, in Winter Haven. The family planned to either stay in the house or make other lodging arrangements on their own, but volunteers were able to provide the two adults and two children emergency assistance for groceries, odor-control concentrated cleaner to help salvage items from the home, and an American Red Cross clean-up kit.
Local Red Cross volunteers will follow up with people after initial assistance to make sure immediate emergency needs are met and refer them to other United Way of Central Florida agencies if more help is needed.
This has been a busy service year for the local American Red Cross. With just one month to go in the service year, Red Cross volunteers in Polk County alone have assisted more than 180 families affected by local disasters – mostly single-home and apartment fires. Families are urged to do everything possible to prevent home fires and to make practice fire escape plans to ensure all family members escape a fire safely. Find Red Cross fire prevention tips at http://www.redcross.org/services/prepare/0,1082,0_242_,00.html.

Highlands Red Cross helps family of five in Sun ‘N’ Lake of Sebring

SEBRING, FL (May 30, 2008 ) — A late night fire Thursday left a family of five without shelter, but American Red Cross volunteers soon arrived to help.
At 12:15 a.m. Friday morning, May 30, volunteers with the Highlands County Red Cross received word of the fire and rushed to the home on Ramiro Street in the Sun ‘N’ Lake of Sebring Improvement District. The fire displaced five people: Parents, a grandparent, and children, ages 8 and 3.
Volunteers provided the family with temporary shelter, personal hygiene kits, emergency assistance for food and clothing, landlord verification forms to assist in relocation, Publix gift cards (donated by Florida’s Blood Centers) and stuffed animal toys to comfort the children.
Volunteers also referred the family to The Salvation Army and the Church Service Center for additional assistance.
This has been a busy service year for the American Red Cross in Highlands County. With one month left before the year restarts on July 1, Red Cross volunteers in Highlands County have assisted more than 35 families affected by local disasters — mostly single-home and apartment fires — more than double the number from the previous year.

Highlands Red Cross helps Lake Placid family of five after home fire

LAKE PLACID, FL (May 17, 2008 ) — When fire displaced a Lake Placid family of five on Saturday, American Red Cross volunteers rushed to help.
On Saturday, May 17, five volunteers drove out to the home on Holmes Avenue. The family had arranged to stay with relatives and didn’t require full emergency assistance for clothing or groceries. Red Cross volunteers provided the family with personal hygiene kits, odor-control concentrated cleaner to help salvage items from the home, and Publix gift cards – donated by Florida’s Blood Centers.
Volunteers also provided the family with donated teddy bears to comfort the children and leftover Ride for the Red T-shirts, and referred the family to The Salvation Army and to the Alpha-Omega Crisis Center in Lake Placid for additional assistance.
Local Red Cross volunteers will follow up with clients after initial assistance to make sure immediate emergency needs are met, often referring people to other United Way of Central Florida agencies if more help is needed.

Polk Red Cross sends volunteers to help wildfire response

PALM BAY, FL (Friday, May 16, 2008 ) — Now that the American Red Cross has officially closed the shelter in Palm Bay, volunteers continue on scene to work with clients and ensure all immediate emergency needs are met.

The American Red Cross is operating a service center — for those individuals and families displaced by the wildfires in Brevard County — at Our Lady of Grace Church, located at 300 Malabar Road SE, Palm Bay, FL 32907. A team of five caseworkers from the American Red Cross Polk County Chapter will arrive Friday morning to assist caseworkers from the Space Coast Chapter and other area Red Cross chapters who have been handling casework and running the shelter since wildfires first displaced residents on Sunday, May 11.

Starting Friday morning, May 16, Red Cross caseworkers will contact families in need to offer help with basic, immediate needs. Wildfire survivors needing to contact the Red Cross for emergency assistance should call the Space Coast Chapter of the American Red Cross between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. at (321) 890-1002.

Starting Sunday, May 11, the four local Red Cross chapters in the Mid-Florida Region responded together to the wildfires, working in collaboration with emergency officials and community partners. Throughout the week, the Red Cross provided shelter at three locations, but soon consolidated shelter at one location within Our Lady of Grace Church on Malabar Road in Palm Bay, Fla. Red Crossers have served more than 4,000 meals and snacks to date. On Tuesday the Red Cross shelter at the Our Lady of Grace Church reached a peak population of 275, including evacuees seeking food, respite or lodging from Red Cross volunteers. The highest number of evacuees staying overnight at any of the four shelters opened for the wildfires was 130 people.

All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the community. You can help the victims of this disaster through the American Red Cross by making a financial gift, which enables the local Red Cross to provide shelter, food, and other emergency assistance to those in need. A specific fund has been established for the Florida Wildfires at the American Red Cross. To make a contribution to this fund, please call 1-800-RED CROSS (specify the fund) or visit http://centralflorida.redcross.org (choose “Donate”, select “MID-FLORIDA REGION WILDFIRES”). The Red Cross does not have the capacity to accept and distribute in-kind donations (food, water, toys, etc.) but other agencies in the community can accept these items.

About The American Red Cross Mid-Florida Region
The American Red Cross, a humanitarian organization led by volunteers and guided by its Congressional Charter and the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross Movement, provides relief to the victims of disasters and helps people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. The American Red Cross Mid-Florida Region serves Brevard, Citrus, Flagler, Hernando, Highlands, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole, Sumter, and Volusia counties. The chapters’ employees and volunteers provide disaster assistance to an average of one family each day. Every day, the chapters serve as a vital communication link between members of the armed forces and their families in our community. Lifesaving classes such as First Aid/CPR, Automated External Defibrillator Training, Water Safety and HIV/AIDS are available throughout the service areas on a regular basis. To learn more about becoming a volunteer or to make a contribution, please contact the American Red Cross Mid-Florida Region at http://www.midfloridaredcross.org.

Red Cross disaster team helps two families in one night

LAKE WALES, FL (May 13, 2008 ) — For the second time in one night, Red Cross volunteers drove to the same community to assist someone affected by a house fire.
On Tuesday night, after helping a couple on Pinetree Drive, American Red Cross volunteers responded to help a Lake Wales man whose home on Hesperides Road had caught fire earlier that night.
Volunteers with the American Red Cross Polk County Chapter’s Disaster Action Team provided him with temporary shelter, a personal hygiene kit; emergency assistance for groceries, odor-control concentrated cleaner to help salvage items from the home, landlord verification forms to assist in relocation, a leftover Ride for the Red T-shirt, and a Mickey Mouse stuffed toy to comfort him.
Local Red Cross volunteers will follow up with clients after initial assistance to make sure immediate emergency needs are met, often referring people to other United Way of Central Florida agencies if more help is needed.
Since July 1, 2007, Red Cross volunteers throughout the Polk County Chapter service area (Polk and Highlands Counties) have assisted 222 families affected by local disasters – mostly single-home and apartment fires.
Volunteers urge families to follow fire prevention tips and to make and practice fire escape plans to ensure all family members escape a fire safely. Information on preventing fire and planning for home fires is available at http://www.redcross.org/services/prepare/0,1082,0_242_,00.html.

Red Cross responds to wildfires burning in Central Florida

Red Cross continues to provide wildfire sheltering
ORLANDO, (May 13, 2008 ) — In response to wildfires raging in Brevard and Volusia Counties since Sunday, the Mid-Florida Regional Chapter of the American Red Cross–comprised of Polk County, Central Florida, Space Coast and Florida’s Coast-to-Coast chapters–are all responding and collaborating on the relief operation as a region.
A shelter opened by the Red Cross in Volusia County is now closed because evacuation orders were cancelled when the fires in Volusia County were contained for the most part, the Space Coast Chapter of the American Red Cross continues to provide shelter, food and water to evacuees in Brevard County.
Officials in Brevard County report that, to date, as many as 100 homes have been damaged or destroyed by wildfires – 71 in Palm Bay alone. On Monday night, the Red cross shelter on Malabar Road in Palm Bay had more than 110 occupants. By Tuesday at 1:30 p.m., that number was up to 207. The shelter that opened in Daytona Beach on Sunday and Monday had 12 occupants before it closed on Monday at 9 p.m.
To meet the most immediate needs of the families being evacuated in Brevard County a second shelter opened at 2 p.m. at the Central Baptist Church, 2503 Country Club Road, in Melbourne. Volunteers at the church will continue working in partnership with the Red Cross to shelter and feed people in need.
The Space Coast Florida’s Coast to Coast Chapters are sister chapter to the Polk County Chapter as part of the American Red Cross Mid-Florida Region.

Red Cross helps couple after fire at home-based animal rescue

LAKE WALES ( MAY 11, 2008 ) — On Sunday, May 11, American Red Cross volunteers responded to a fire that put a Lake Wales couple out of their home.
At 12:25 p.m., Sunday, May 11, volunteers with the American Red Cross Polk County Chapter’s Disaster Action Team learned that Clinton and Darlynn Martin, living on Rosalie Lake Road had a home fire and needed assistance.
The Martins run Darlynn’s Darlins (www.darlynnsdarlins.org), a non-profit animal rescue, out of their home and property. The couple arrived home to find smoke coming out of the roof. A neighbor had already called fire services, so they set to work getting the animals out.
All were saved, except for one cat and a cockatiel.
American Red Cross volunteers provided the couple with temporary shelter, personal hygiene kits, and other emergency assistance, including a Mickey Mouse stuffed toy to help comfort them.
Darlynn Martin said the Red Cross volunteers were “wonderful, very nice” at helping them with immediate emergency assistance. Their animal rescue will need rebuilding, however, and they are asking anyone in the community who can assist them to come and help.

Red Cross helps Lakeland family of seven after home fire

LAKELAND, FL (May 1, 2008 ) — Late Thursday night, fire damaged the home of a family of seven in Lakeland, but American Red Cross volunteers were on scene to provide help.
Volunteers with the American Red Cross Polk County Chapter’s Disaster Action Team received word that a family was in need at 11:15 p.m. Thursday, May 1. They responded to a home on Old South Drive in Lakeland and found a house that had been damaged and had the power shut off as the result of a fire.
Volunteers provided the two adults and five children with temporary shelter and emergency assistance for groceries. The Polk County Chapter follows up with families, especially after late-night calls, to make sure all of their immediate emergency needs are met. The Chapter also works with United Way of Central Florida partner agencies to refer people for other types of assistance, if needed.