Local Red Cross to offer free Disaster Preparedness Training

    The Aroostook County Branch of the American Red Cross-Pine Tree Chapter will offer free disaster preparedness courses in Shelter Operations and Client Casework on Saturday, November 15 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Community Living Association – Career Enhancement Center located at 2 North Street in Houlton.     “With winter approaching and heating oil costs expected to remain high, these courses are very important,” said branch manager Joyce Knorr from her office in Caribou. “In fact, this year the training may be more important than ever before. Folks in the Southern Aroostook area should attend these trainings to learn how to open a warming shelter, and how to work with the local Red Cross to provide immediate relief to friends, families and neighbors after a disaster such as a house fire, flood, or severe winter storm.
    Ms. Knorr added, “People in the County know how to deal with snow and cold weather, but more home fires occur during the wood, propane, kerosene and oil heating season than at any other time of the year, and storms can cause problems even for people who have experienced decades of them. We all know that ice-out always needs a careful eye, and we saw what can happen when spring thaws combine with heavy rains.”
    “Your local Red Cross knows that the safety of people and their communities depend on knowledge like this, and on trained people to make sure that basic human needs are met whenever disaster or emergency strikes in the County,” said Hillary Roberts, Pine Tree Chapter’s Director of Emergency Services. The Chapter, which provides emergency preparation and response services for every Aroostook County community, has served Mainers since 1919.
    To register for either training, please call CLA’s Career Enhancement Center at 532-5526 or for more information, email Ms. Knorr at knorrj@pinetree.redcross.org.