628 Main Street Osawatomie, KS 66064 913-755-4114
American Red Cross
Jason Williby and his associate , Brian, brought two of their emergency management vehicles to display, along with literature and information on the services they provide.
As we all know, the Red Cross does an incredible job of aiding communities whenever disaster strikes. They are equipped to provide food, shelter, clothing vouchers, and emotional support, at a moment's notice. What you may not be aware of is the need for trained volunteers in every community, to assist in the process, when and if disaster were to strike.
Prior to the tornado, the Joplin area had been hit by a severe ice storm in recent years. Following that disaster, many people took the volunteer trainings. Jason gives a lot of credit to those volunteers for helping the relief effort in Joplin go much smoother than it did in Reading, where the volunteer pool is much smaller.
The Red Cross has realized the need for trained personnel in the rural areas and is currently expanding and offering training courses in the outlying areas. Nobody knows where a disaster will strike, but the more trained people you have, the better the response time will be. What better way to help your friends and neighbors than by attending these courses in our area!
Volunteers are needed from all walks of life. We have worked with the Red Cross, First Option Bank, and other area Chambers to come up with a schedule of trainings to be offered in our community. Classes are anywhere from 3 to 8 hours long. Upon completion, your name and contact information will be listed in the Red Cross's data base and you will be called upon, as needed. They realize that every person will not be available for every disaster! That's why it's so important to train as many people as possible so that the list is large enough to accomodate whatever the needs may be when and if something does happen in our area.
Watch the weekly updates for the schedule of upcoming classes, offered in July and August. We hope many of you will be able to attend.
Members of the Osawatomie High School Sub Debs were on hand at the coffee to present a check to the Red Cross. The girls do a variety of community service projects every year. They had recently earned $100 serving at the Alumni dinner and voted to give that money to the Red Cross, to help the people affected by the recent tornados.
The Red Cross also would like to remind everyone that there is a constant need for blood in our area. They are always looking for businesses to host blood drives for this purpose.
Tri-Ko has scheduled a local blood drive on July 6th, from 2pm - 8pm, located at Memorial Hall. Call 755-3025 to schedule an appointment.
If your business would like to host an upcoming drive, please contact Jason at jwilliby@usa.redcross.org
June 14 Coffee hosted by Red Cross
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