Home fires have affected nearly 50 families in Aroostook County since June of 2013 — but the American Red Cross Pine Tree Chapter and its volunteers were there in every instance to help families and folks get back on their feet after the devastating effects.
From St. Agatha to Island Falls, The County has grown a cohesive unit of volunteers who will be there in an emergency — and they’re always looking for community support to help further their mission of providing relief to victims of disaster and helping people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies.
“It’s not just fires and floods; we help out in all sorts of instances,” said Director of the Pine Tree Chapter of the American Red Cross Joyce Knorr.
Disaster assistance and blood drives are synonymous with that iconic Red Cross, but there’s one important piece of information many don’t know; “People do not realize that we operate from the donor dollar,” Knorr said with a respectful smile. “And 91 cents of every dollar donated is designated for disaster response relief and training.”
That remaining nine cents goes toward operational expenses — like putting fuel in the tank of the Emergency Response Vehicle and paying for the phone line.
Without the generosity of the greater community, the Red Cross could not fulfill its mission locally, regionally, nationally or globally — it all starts right here with local volunteers and supporters.
The number of volunteers alone for the local Red Cross chapter has drastically increased over the past seven years, and now many board members are even cross-trained to assist in other areas.
“It’s contagious,” Knorr described, “the more you do, the more you want to do — and the more you learn, the more you want to get involved.”
Becoming a Red Cross volunteer provides thorough training opportunities.
“You start our with the fundamentals, and then you grow into other areas of expertise — your casework, your ERV (Emergency Response Vehicle) driving, mass care sheltering, first aid, logistics,” Knorr explained. “You can go almost any avenue (of volunteerism) for the Red Cross.”
Since becoming the director of the local Red Cross branch, Knorr has found that most volunteers are fueled by passion.
“They want to do something that makes a difference in someone’s life,” Knorr said, with the friendly warning that once you start volunteering, many don’t want to stop.
“And then, when you see the news stories on TV about the floods, the snowstorms, the ice storms or whatever we do, be it locally, regionally or nationally, you can think ‘I’m a part of that,’” Knorr said.
Many volunteers choose to do so after an instance in their life or the lives of loved ones who’ve been positively impacted by the actions of the Red Cross — and those actions extend well beyond disaster relief services and blood donations.
The Red Cross provides services to the U.S. Armed forces including emergency messaging, financial support, mental health support and information services. Emergency messaging means Red Cross officials will help facilitate the passing of information to military members and their families regarding a birth, a serious illness or a death.
They even organize supportive services, like this past December when the local branch participated in Holiday Mail for Heroes.
The American Red Cross is no stranger to community and often hosts CPR training, water safety and lifeguard training and even babysitting courses.
Additional information about the American Red Cross can be obtained by visiting www.MaineRedCross.org, or by calling 493-4620.
