American Red Cross month under way nationally

The Mat-Su Branch of the American Red Cross is celebrating Red Cross Month in March by recognizing some of the hundreds of people who have helped our community this year through the Red Cross.

This year, 104 Mat-Su residents volunteered a total of 3,250 hours to help local families when disaster struck -- teaching their neighbors life-saving skills such as first aid, CPR and water safety; helping local military families communicate during emergencies; and many more.

"Many people don't realize that most Red Cross work is done by local volunteers, in local communities, and is funded by voluntary contributions from local citizens and businesses," said Jean Harding, volunteer chairman of the Mat-Su branch.

One of these local heroes is Stephanie Bass, a disaster action team leader. Thanks to Bass and more than 114 other volunteers who have, on their own time, received special training on how to help families when disaster strikes, more than 35 local families received immediate assistance -- the means to get shelter, food, clothing -- when they were driven from their homes by local disasters this year.

Other active volunteers include Don Harding of Wasilla, who comes into the office twice a month to clean mannequins; Ernest Erickson of Palmer, who comes into the office to do the same task; Ross Crawford, a CPR instructor who taught 25 classes; Bill Morrow, who coordinates mass-care efforts for all disasters in the chapter; Norm Fuller, who is a leadership group chairman who works in shelters and at the Emergency Operations Center; and Phyllis Beer, who gave three weeks of her time volunteering in New York City after Sept. 11.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared March 194 to be Red Cross Month. Every president since has issued a similar proclamation making March Red Cross month.

Thursday morning, Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin, Palmer Mayor Jim Cooper and Mat-Su Borough Tim Anderson met at the Wasilla Area Seniors, Inc. to sign a proclamation. They were joined by Sall Anderson, the field operations manager for the South Central Alaska Chapter of the American Red Cross.