The Red Cross stands ready to meet the immediate needs of first responders and displaced residents with critical hydration, nutrition and other needs as the develop.

To make a financial donation to your local Red Cross to help people affected by this disaster and other disasters here in the United States and around the world, people can click, call or text – visit http://www.redcross-pbc.org, call 561-833-7711,or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; teaches lifesaving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization — not a government agency — and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit http://www.redcross-pbc.org.

Nationally, the Red Cross responds to thousands of local fires throughout the country every year. Last year, the local Red Cross in this region responded to 308 house fires, a house fire every 27 hours on average. “House fires are the most common disaster threat in our region,” said Rob Levine, CEO, American Red Cross, Palm Beaches-Treasure Coast Region. Levine added, “Our Red Cross Chapters are tasked with providing for the immediate and emergent needs of those individuals who are impacted, this need is met by our volunteers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

Several events are going on through the area in honor of Fire Prevention Month, to distribute much needed information to the community. These events include:

• Friday, October 15 from 9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
  Youth Volunteer Fire Safety Outreach in Lake Worth Red Cross Youth Volunteers will be going door to door in Lake Worth distributing Fire Safety Information to Residents. In the month of September, the Red Cross responded to 9 fires in Lake Worth alone.  
• Saturday, October 16 from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
  Home Safety Day at Home Depot in Stuart
• Saturday, October 23 from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
  Home Safety Day at Home Depot in Vero Beach

The Red Cross also recommends that families create and practice a home fire escape plan, which should include at least two escape routes for every room in the home. Families should choose a convenient meeting place outside of the home and practice their escape plan at least twice a year with all family members.

Additional fire safety tips from the American Red Cross include:

• Keep all sources of fuel (paper, clothing, bedding, and carpets or rugs) at least three feet away from all heat sources when cooking, or using alternative heating like a space heater.
• Don’t leave the kitchen while frying, grilling or broiling food, and don’t leave home while cooking.
• Keep matches and lighters away from and out of the reach of children.
• If a fire occurs, get out and stay out. Call the fire department from a cell phone or neighbor’s home.
• If smoke or fire blocks the first escape route, use a second way. If someone must exit through smoke, they should crawl low under the smoke to the exit. If escaping through a closed door, feel the door before opening it. If the door is warm, get out a different way.
• If smoke, heat, or flames block the way out, stay in the room with the door closed. Signal for help using a brightly colored cloth at the window. If there is a telephone in the room, call the fire department and tell them the location

More information on home fire safety is available on http://www.redcross.org. People can help those affected by home fires and other emergencies by making a financial donation to The American Red Cross, Palm Beaches – Treasure Coast Region by calling 561-833-7711 or visiting www.redcross-pbc.org.

About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; teaches lifesaving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization — not a government agency — and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit www.redcross-pbc.org.

Editors Note: Please call Joe Hansen at 561-531-2668 to arrange an interview with Youth Volunteers distributing Fire Safety Information in Lake Worth.

       Red Cross volunteers are all from the Palm Beach Area Chapter. These individuals are members of the Chapter’s Disaster Action Team, a group of specially trained volunteers who respond to the scene of a local disaster when called upon at any time of the day or night.

      “The ability to respond to so many different locations in such a short span of time is a tribute to the passion, commitment and capacity of our volunteer teams” said Rob Levine, CEO of the Greater Palm Beaches – Treasure Coast Regional Chapter.

      Voluntary contributions of time or money may be made to the Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter of the American Red Cross to assist the non-profit organization in providing disaster relief and helping community members prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. Please call (561) 833-7711 or visit www.redcross-pbc.org to learn how you can help.

To reach the on-call Public Affairs Volunteer who responded to this incident, call (561) 722-6745.

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About the Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter of the American Red Cross:

For over 90 years, the American Red Cross Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter, which includes Glades, Hendry, Okeechobee and Palm Beach counties, has provided relief to victims of disasters at home and abroad, taught lifesaving skills, and supported military members and their families. The American Red Cross, a charity and not a government agency, depends on voluntary contributions of time and money to perform its humanitarian mission. To learn more about the work of the Red Cross in communities, or to make a donation, please call 561-833-7711 or visit our website at  www.redcross-pbc.org.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (August 12, 2010) — At this hour, volunteers from the Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter of the American Red Cross are responding to a house fire at 2320 Avenue Z in Riviera Beach; their second house fire in two hours. Two Red Cross volunteers are at the scene coordinating emergency aid for four adults. The Red Cross is meeting the family’s immediate and emergent needs with critical assistance including food, clothing, smoke detergent, hygiene kits and lodging. The home is destroyed.

            A West Palm Beach house fire occurred two hours prior at 1853 North Congress Avenue. The Red Cross assisted a total of two adults and six children occupying two units in a four-unit building. There, the Red Cross provided a hotel and money for food and clothing to one adult and four children living in a unit that experienced major damage, and a hotel stay and money for food to one adult and two children living in a unit that experienced minor damage.

Red Cross volunteers on the scene are Arlene Aronofsky and Bernadine Bellegarde. The pair responded initially to the West Palm Beach fire, moving next to the Riviera Beach fire. They are members of the American Red Cross-Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter’s Disaster Action Team; a group of specially trained volunteers who respond to the scene of a local disaster when called upon at any time of the day or night.

Voluntary contributions of time or money may be made to the Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter of the American Red Cross to assist the non-profit organization in providing disaster relief and helping community members prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. Please call (561) 833-7711 or visit www.redcross-pbc.org to learn how you can help.

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About the Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter of the American Red Cross: For over 90 years, the American Red Cross-Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter, which includes Glades, Hendry, Okeechobee and Palm Beach counties, has provided relief to victims of disasters at home and abroad, taught lifesaving skills, and supported military members and their families. The American Red Cross, a charity and not a government agency, depends on voluntary contributions of time and money to perform its humanitarian mission. To learn more about the work of the Red Cross in communities, or to make a donation, please call 561-833-7711 or visit our website at  www.redcross-pbc.org.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (August 3, 2010) — At this hour, Red Cross volunteers are responding to a mobile home fire at 2324 Avenida Barcelona Este in West Palm Beach’s Tavares Cove Mobil Home Park. Two Red Cross volunteers are at the scene coordinating emergency aid for six adults. The Red Cross will meet the family’s immediate and emergent needs with critical assistance that may include food, clothing, smoke detergent, hygiene kits and lodging for the affected individuals.

The two volunteers now at the scene are members of the American Red Cross-Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter’s Disaster Action Team. They are a group of specially trained volunteers who respond to the scene of a local disaster when called upon at any time of the day or night.

Voluntary contributions of time or money may be made to the Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter of the American Red Cross to assist the non-profit organization in providing disaster relief and helping community members prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. Please call (561) 833-7711 or visit www.redcross-pbc.org to learn how you can help.

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About the Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter of the American Red Cross: For over 90 years, the American Red Cross-Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter, which includes Glades, Hendry, Okeechobee and Palm Beach counties, has provided relief to victims of disasters at home and abroad, taught lifesaving skills, and supported military members and their families. The American Red Cross, a charity and not a government agency, depends on voluntary contributions of time and money to perform its humanitarian mission. To learn more about the work of the Red Cross in communities, or to make a donation, please call 561-833-7711 or visit our website at  www.redcross-pbc.org.

International Holocaust & War Victims Tracing Center Awards Top Honor

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (July 27, 2010) — The International Holocaust and War Victims Tracing center of the Red Cross has announced that the Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter will receive the Outstanding Chapter Award for the work of chapter volunteers in their community outreach programs. The Holocaust and War Victims Tracing Center, based in Maryland, is a national clearinghouse for persons seeking the fates of loved ones missing since the Holocaust and its aftermath.

Last November some 29 Red Cross volunteers representing Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade Counties engaged various Jewish communities and agencies with educational outreach programs.  During a 72-hour time period, the local Red Cross team met with almost 1,000 individuals with the goal of reconnecting family members by telling the stories of people who were lost and reunited during the Holocaust and its aftermath. The meeting resulted in 61 new requests to the Tracing Center in Baltimore. Of the people touched by this outreach effort, 18% identified themselves as Holocaust Survivors.

In recognizing the work of Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter volunteers Linda Klein, Director of the Red Cross Holocaust & War Victims Tracing Center said, “Besides the number of cases initiated as a result of the chapter’s work, the campaign allowed us to directly reach more people in a condensed period of time.” She continued, “It is a wonderful model, well thought out and executed, with the full support of the chapter’s leadership, staff and volunteers.” The Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter was also able to develop and train 29 new Holocaust Tracing volunteers.

The Outstanding Chapter Award will be presented to volunteer leaders from the Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter of the American Red Cross at a special luncheon celebrating the tracing center’s 20^th anniversary in Baltimore, MD on September 27, 2010 featuring keynote speaker Gail McGovern, President and CEO of the American Red Cross. For more information on free American Red Cross Holocaust Tracing or the upcoming anniversary luncheon, call 561.833.7711 or visit www.redcross-pbc.org.

Store Self and Wine Storage presented a $4,000 check to the Red Cross for the Haiti Relief & Development Fund and an additional $1,000 to the American Red Cross-Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter.

$5,000 in Wine, Dine & Design Proceeds Pours in for Red Cross

 
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (July 2, 2010) — The inaugural Wine, Dine & Design event held at Store Self and Wine Storage in Palm Beach Gardens has raised $5,000 for the Red Cross. Of the thousands of dollars generated at the event, the storage facility has designated $4,000 to the Haiti Relief and Development Fund and $1,000 to the Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter of the American Red Cross which responds to local disasters every 30 hours on average in Glades, Hendry, Okeechobee and Palm Beach counties. Billed as the first cultural event of its kind in Palm Beach Gardens, the event included an interior design showcase, art, food, wine, educational seminars and live music and dance performances, attracting 650 people.

Nearly six months after the earthquake in Haiti, the Red Cross is continuing to provide relief to vulnerable Haitians and preparing people and communities for what is expected to be an active hurricane season. The Red Cross continues to provide clean drinking water, latrines, medical treatment, emergency shelter supplies and other services on a large scale. While the American Red Cross is distributing emergency relief, the organization is working simultaneously on projects and programs for long term recovery of Haitian families and communities. The American Red Cross will support earthquake survivors in many ways in the months and years ahead until the last donor dollar is spent. The organization is also committed to its work in Haiti that has been ongoing for many years, such as programs in health, disease prevention, disaster prevention and disaster response.

The community has helped the Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter of the American Red Cross raise over $1 million for the Haiti Relief and Development Fund through telethons, special events, and corporate and individual donations. To learn more about the work of your local American Red Cross, or to make a donation, visit www.redcross-pbc.org or call (561) 833-7711.

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About the Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter of the American Red Cross:

For over 90 years, the American Red Cross Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter, which includes Glades, Hendry, Okeechobee and Palm Beach counties, has provided relief to victims of disasters at home and abroad, taught lifesaving skills, and supported military members and their families. The American Red Cross, a charity and not a government agency, depends on voluntary contributions of time and money to perform its humanitarian mission. To learn more about the work of the Red Cross in communities, or to make a donation, please call 561-833-7711 or visit our website at  www.redcross-pbc.org.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (June 30, 2010) — This Independence Day, many Americans will celebrate by gathering over traditional fireworks at outdoor festivities. Although crowds of people marvel each year over the beauty and noise of these time-honored explosives, they can quickly turn dangerous. There were 8,800 firework-related injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments in 2009, according to the U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission. If your plans for  the Fourth of July include fireworks, barbecues, or relaxing days at the pool or beach, the American Red Cross can help you prevent emergencies and enjoy a safer holiday with the following tips:

Firework safety:

• Never give fireworks to small children, and always follow the instructions on the packaging.
• Keep a supply of water close-by as a precaution.
• Make sure the person lighting fireworks always wears eye protection.
• Light only one firework at a time and never attempt to relight “a dud.”
• Store fireworks in a cool, dry place away from children and pets.
• Never throw or point a firework toward people, animals, vehicles, structures or flammable materials.
• Stay at least 500 feet away from professional fireworks displays.
• Leave any area immediately where untrained amateurs are using fireworks.

Safe Grilling:

• Use gas and charcoal barbecue grills outside only.
• Position grills far from siding, deck railings, overhanging branches and house eaves.
• Keep children and pets at least three feet away from the grill area.
• Never add charcoal starter fluid when coals have already been ignited.
• Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions when using grills.
• Always supervise a barbecue grill when in use.

Water safety at the pool and beach:

• Swim in a supervised, marked area with a lifeguard present, and swim with others. Never swim alone.
• Enter the water feet first. Enter the water headfirst only when the area is clearly marked for diving and has no obstructions.
• Adults should never leave a child unobserved around water. Practice “reach supervision” by staying within an arm’s length of young children and weak swimmers while they are in and around the water.
• Take frequent breaks (about once an hour) where everyone gets out of the water, drinks water, reapplies sunscreen (SPF 15 or higher) and rests.
• If you are caught in a rip current, swim parallel to the shore until you are out of the current. Once you are free, turn and swim toward shore. If you can’t swim to the shore, float or tread water until you are free of the rip current and then head toward shore.
• Watch out for the dangerous “too’s:” too tired, too cold, too far from safety, too much sun, too much strenuous activity.
• Post CPR instructions and directions to call 9-1-1 or your local emergency number in the pool area.
• Keep toys away from the pool when it is not in use. Toys can attract young children into the pool.
• If a child is missing, check the pool first. Go to the edge of the pool and scan the entire pool, bottom, and surface, as well as the surrounding pool area.

For more safety tips or to register for a water safety, first aid or CPR/AED course, visit www.redcross-pbc.org. The Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter of the American Red Cross wishes everyone a safe and happy Fourth of July!

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About the Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter of the American Red Cross:

For over 90 years, the American Red Cross Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter, which includes Glades, Hendry, Okeechobee and Palm Beach counties, has provided relief to victims of disasters at home and abroad, taught lifesaving skills, and supported military members and their families. The American Red Cross, a charity and not a government agency, depends on voluntary contributions of time and money to perform its humanitarian mission. To learn more about the work of the Red Cross in communities, or to make a donation, please call 561-833-7711 or visit our website at  www.redcross-pbc.org.

Currently on Scene at West Palm Beach House Fire

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (June 27, 2010) — Red Cross volunteers are responding now to a house fire at 840 Briggs Street in West Palm Beach. The American Red Cross is providing food, clothing and temporary shelter for three adults and one child. The fire, which has caused major damage to the second floor of the owner-occupied home, has also claimed the life of the family’s dog. Volunteers on the scene are Mark Goggin, Disaster Response Manager, and Rene Favereau, Captain of the Red Cross Disaster Action Team.

This Red Cross response effort is occurring on the heels of a boat fire that started early this morning at Rybovich Boat Yard at 45^th Street and Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach. The organization’s volunteers responded to the earlier incident by providing canteen services for over 70 emergency workers on the scene of the large-scale fire, making sure response crews were well fed and hydrated in the midst of the hot day.

            The long-standing mission of the American Red Cross is to provide relief to victims of disasters and help people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. The organization has a special Disaster Relief Fund which it uses to respond to all local emergencies. If you would like to make a contribution to the non-profit, you can call 561.833.7711, visit www.redcross-pbc.org or mail 825 Fern Street, West Palm Beach, FL.

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About the Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter of the American Red Cross:

For over 90 years, the American Red Cross Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter, which includes Glades, Hendry, Okeechobee and Palm Beach counties, has provided relief to victims of disasters at home and abroad, taught lifesaving skills, and supported military members and their families. The American Red Cross, a charity and not a government agency, depends on voluntary contributions of time and money to perform its humanitarian mission. To learn more about the work of the Red Cross in communities, or to make a donation, please call 561-833-7711 or visit our website at http://www.redcross-pbc.org.

            Volunteers Alrene Aranofsky, Clara Correa, John DiBattista, Pat DiBattista, Jamie Geary, Mark Goggin, Susan Marantette and Chet Weber are on the scene working out of an RV and two Emergency Response Vehicles. The crew is dispersing McDonalds and Gatorade to emergency response teams. “There are still flames coming from the boat,” said Mark Goggin, Manager, Disaster Response. “The Red Cross will be on the scene providing rehabilitation services for response teams until the fire is out,” he added.

            The long-standing mission of the American Red Cross is to provide relief to victims of disasters and help people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. The organization has a special Disaster Relief Fund which it uses to respond to all local emergencies. If you would like to make a contribution to the non-profit, you can call 561.833.7711, visit www.redcross-pbc.org or mail 825 Fern Street, West Palm Beach, FL.

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About the Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter of the American Red Cross:

For over 90 years, the American Red Cross Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter, which includes Glades, Hendry, Okeechobee and Palm Beach counties, has provided relief to victims of disasters at home and abroad, taught lifesaving skills, and supported military members and their families. The American Red Cross, a charity and not a government agency, depends on voluntary contributions of time and money to perform its humanitarian mission. To learn more about the work of the Red Cross in communities, or to make a donation, please call 561-833-7711 or visit our website at http://www.redcross-pbc.org.