Polk Red Cross helps Lakeland family of four

LAKELAND, FL (June 30, 2008 ) — On Monday, the American Red Cross Polk County Chapter assisted a family of four in Lakeland whose home was damaged by fire earlier that day.

At 11:30 a.m. Monday, June 30, volunteers with the American Red Cross Polk County Chapter Disaster Action Team arrived at the home on Gaur Lane in Lakeland. They helped the family — two adults and two children — by providing temporary shelter, comfort kits (personal hygiene kits), emergency assistance for groceries, odor-control concentrated cleaner to help salvage items from the home, and teddy bear stuffed toys to help comfort the children.

With this most recent fire, the local Red Cross has assisted 242 families in the last 12 months: Roughly two families every three days, or an increase of more than 100 families over the previous service year. Whenever called, considerate and compassionate volunteers respond to help those in need.

Home fires are the most common disaster that Red Cross volunteers witness. 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.

Polk Red Cross helps Lakeland family of five

LAKELAND, FL (June 27, 2008 ) — Late Thursday night, American Red Cross volunteers rushed out to help a family of five who had suffered a house fire earlier that evening.

At 11 p.m. Thursday, June 26, volunteers with the American Red Cross Polk County Chapter Disaster Action Team received word of a house fire on North Webster Avenue in Lakeland. Volunteers helped the family by providing temporary shelter, comfort kits (personal hygiene kits), infant supplies, and odor-control concentrated cleaner to help salvage items from the home.

Committed, compassionate volunteers are the heart and soul of the Red Cross. Throughout the last 12 months, volunteers throughout the Polk County Chapter service area (Polk and Highlands Counties) have assisted 241 families affected by local disasters – mostly single-home and apartment fires. This is an increase of more than 100 families over the previous service year.

Home fires are the most common disaster that Red Cross volunteers witness. 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.

Polk Red Cross helps Haines City family after fire

HAINES CITY, FL (June 24, 2008) — On Tuesday, American Red Cross volunteers helped a family in Haines City whose home had caught fire the previous night.

Volunteers with the American Red Cross Polk County Chapter’s Disaster Action Team arrived at 1 p.m. Tuesday, June 24, at the home on Langston Avenue in Haines City. They provided the two adults there with temporary shelter other assistance.

Local Red Cross volunteers will follow up with the family after this initial assistance to be sure immediate emergency needs are met, and refer them to other United Way of Central Florida agencies if more help is needed.

Tuesday’s fire follows a weekend when two families were affected by fire on Friday, June 20, with another six families affected by fire in one 24-hour period. (Saturday, June 21).

With less than a week left to go in the service year, Red Cross volunteers throughout the Polk County Chapter service area (Polk and Highlands Counties) have assisted 240 families affected by local disasters – mostly single-home and apartment fires. This is an increase of more than 100 families over the previous service year.

 

 

Six families helped by Polk Red Cross in 24 hours of fires

Polk County , FL (June 22, 2008 ) — From shortly after midnight on Saturday morning, June 21, until early Sunday morning, June 22, one volunteer team from the American Red Cross Polk County Chapter has been busy helping people affected by residential fires.

Starting shortly after 12 a.m. on Saturday, June 21, two Red Cross volunteers with the American Red Cross Polk County Chapter helped a total of four families affected by an early morning apartment fire in Bartow; another family affected by a house fire that morning in Wahneta, a community south of Winter Haven, Fla.; and then a family of ten – eight adults and two children – affected by a fire late Saturday night/early Sunday morning in Davenport, Fla.

Bartow
Early Saturday morning, before 1:30 a.m., an apartment caught fire at the Sumerlin Oak Apartments on Church Street in Bartow, Fla. Red Cross volunteers learned, through the course of doing casework that morning and later that afternoon, that the fire had affected four families:
· One apartment was directly damaged with fire and smoke. Red Cross volunteers provided a mother and child with temporary shelter, personal hygiene kits, odor-control concentrated cleaner to help salvage items from the home, and a monkey beanbag toy to comfort the child.
· A second apartment had water damage. Volunteers provided a mother and child there with temporary shelter and personal hygiene kits.
· A third apartment was left without electricity as a result of the fire. Red Cross volunteers provided a mother and her infant with temporary shelter, personal hygiene kits, and emergency assistance for groceries.
· Another apartment had some smoke and water damage. One adult living there had elected to stay there with family . Volunteers provided that person with emergency assistance for groceries, a personal hygiene kit, and odor-control concentrated cleaner to help salvage items from the home.

Wahneta
Later that morning, the same two volunteers received word of a family displaced by a mobile home fire on East Fifth Street in Wahneta, Fla. They provided two adults and one child with temporary shelter, emergency assistance for clothing and groceries, personal hygiene kits, and landlord verification forms to assist in relocation.

Davenport
Then, at 12:04 a.m. Sunday, June 22, those same two Red Cross volunteers arrived at the scene of a fire on East Magnolia Street in Davenport, Fla., that had displaced eight adults and two children. They provided the family with temporary shelter, personal hygiene kits, odor-control concentrated cleaner to help salvage items from the home, and teddy bear stuffed toys to help comfort the children.

Local Red Cross volunteers will follow up with the families after this initial assistance to make sure immediate emergency needs are met, and will refer them to other United Way of Central Florida agencies if more help is needed.

Red Cross helps Spring Lake family of four after home fire

SEBRING, FL (June 13, 2008 ) — American Red Cross volunteers have assisted a family of four after a fire seriously damaged their home Friday.

At roughly 9 a.m. Friday morning, June 13, a kitchen fire quickly caught a home on fire on Wilson Terrace in the Spring Lake subdivision. Volunteers with the Highlands County Red Cross received word of the fire at noon and arrived at the home by 12:45 p.m. to help.

Volunteers provided the family – three adults and one child – with temporary shelter, personal hygiene kits, emergency assistance for food and clothing, odor-control concentrate cleaner to help with salvaging items from the home, a Red Cross clean-up kit, landlord verification forms to assist in relocation, and Publix gift cards donated by Florida’s Blood Centers.

Volunteers also referred the family to The Salvation Army for additional assistance, if needed, as part of their follow-up casework and partnership with the United Way of Central Florida.

This has been a busy service year for the American Red Cross in Highlands County. With two weeks 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.

Polk Red Cross helps Haines City family of 7 after home fire

HAINES CITY, FL (June 6, 2008 ) — On Friday morning, American Red Cross volunteers helped a family in northeast Polk County after fire had damaged their home that same morning.

The American Red Cross received a call at 8:20 a.m. Friday, June 6, about a house fire on Temple Circle in Haines City. Two volunteers with the American Red Cross Polk County Chapter’s Disaster Action Team arrived at the home to help seven adults who had been displaced by the fire.

Red Cross volunteers provided the family with temporary shelter, personal hygiene kits, emergency assistance for groceries, odor-control concentrated cleaner to help salvage items from the home, and stuffed animal toys to help comfort them.

Local Red Cross volunteers will follow up with the family after initial assistance to make sure immediate emergency needs are met, and will refer them to other United Way of Central Florida agencies if more help is needed.

With only a month left to go in the service year, Red Cross volunteers throughout the Polk County Chapter service area (Polk and Highlands Counties) have now assisted 230 families affected by local disasters – mostly single-home and apartment fires.

Home fires are the most common disaster response for Red Cross volunteers. 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 making a disaster plan for home fires is available at http://www.redcross.org/services/prepare/0,1082,0_242_,00.html.

Your local Red Cross will always be there to help. The Red Cross is not a government agency, and each Red Cross chapter depends on the generosity of the community it serves to do its work. Red Cross workers train people how to prepare for disasters or how to respond with valuable life-saving skills in an emergency.

To volunteer, take classes, or donate to the American Red Cross Polk County Chapter, visit the chapter at 147 Avenue A, NW in Winter Haven; visit online at http://polkcountyfl.redcross.org; e-mail us at polkcofl@polkredcross.org, or call (863) 294-5941.

Thank you for preparing for disaster and for supporting your local American Red Cross.

Red Cross disaster team helps two families in one night, again

POLK COUNTY, FL (June 4, 2008 ) — For the second time in a month, Polk County Red Cross volunteers have assisted two families in one night.
Late Tuesday night, at 9:45 p.m., a Red Cross volunteer team helped a couple on Wallaby Lane in Poinciana, Fla. Shortly after midnight, another house fire broke out in Frostproof, in the southeastern corner of the county.
So, by 3 a.m. Wednesday, June 4, two more volunteers with the American Red Cross Polk County Chapter’s Disaster Action Team arrived at the home on Old Fort Meade Road, in the Maxcy Quarters section of Frostproof, Fla., to help the couple displaced by the fire.
The first couple opted to make their own plans for temporary shelter, but the second couple accepted temporary shelter from the Red Cross. Volunteers helped both families with immediate emergency needs, which incluxdced such aid as emergency assistance for food, clothing and/or shoes, personal hygiene kits, odor-control concentrated cleaner to help salvage items from the home, or landlord verification forms to assist in relocation.
Local Red Cross volunteers 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 230 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 helps Davenport family

DAVENPORT, FL (June 2, 2008 ) — On Monday, Red Cross volunteers helped a family of five whose home in Davenport caught fire Saturday.
Volunteers arrived at 2:30 p.m. Monday at the home on Sandy Oak Drive in Davenport, just of the Osceola-Polk Line Road. The family, two adults and three children, had already arranged to stay with relatives in the area. Red Cross volunteers provided them with personal hygiene kits, emergency assistance for clothing and groceries, landlord verification forms to assist in relocation, and other assistance.
Local Red Cross volunteers will follow up with the family 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.