American Red Cross Prepares for Hurricane Season Southbury office to host volunteer orientation

The Red Cross will host a new volunteer orientation at the American Red Cross Southbury Office, 385 Main St South, Southbury, Connecticut on Thursday, June 9 from 3-4 pm. The Red Cross is seeking volunteers for all lines of service and leadership positions but is especially looking for volunteers interested in becoming involved in responding to disasters large and small.

On average, the Red Cross in Connecticut responds to about two disasters each day, usually a home fire, but the Red Cross must also be prepared to respond to larger scale disasters like hurricanes. June kicks off Hurricane Season, which runs from June 1 – November 30.

Hurricanes can cause life and property-threatening hazards such a flooding, storm surge, high winds and tornadoes. The Red Cross disaster staff and volunteers pre-positions supplies including kitchens, prepackaged meals and emergency response vehicles and provides millions of people with food and shelter. During Hurricane Sandy, the Red Cross worked with community partners to serve more than 17.5 million meals and snacks and handed out more than 7 million relief items such as blankets, gloves, warm clothing, and home clean-up supplies. Red Crossers offered 113,000 health services and emotional support contacts and provided nearly half of the 163,000 overnight shelter stays for Sandy.

Hurricanes cause problems for people in coastal areas. But these storms can also cause damage hundreds of miles inland. “These are dangerous storms that can affect people living here in our state,” said Mario Bruno, CEO, American Red Cross Connecticut and Rhode Island Region. “In recent years, the American Red Cross Connecticut provided disaster relief locally after storms like Hurricane Irene and Superstorm Sandy. Our volunteers stand ready to help those impacted by disasters and we need more to join their ranks.”

As we head into the hurricane season, the Red Cross needs volunteers to join now to be trained and ready to help when a disaster happens. Disaster responders are part of a team that meets the immediate emergency needs of disaster clients such as food, clothing, shelter, emergency health services and other necessary services. It is through the time and care of ordinary people that the Red Cross can do extraordinary things.

The hour-long orientation session is designed to introduce new volunteers to the history of the Red Cross and to learn about all of the local volunteer opportunities available. Those interested in attending the session must register in advance online at www.redcross.org/ct/volunteer.  For more information please call 860-678-2788.