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.