Red Cross needs volunteers to help expand services

MAT-SU - The American Red Cross' Mat-Su office is looking for a few good men and women.

The organization is holding its annual orientation for new volunteers next Monday, Oct. 2, at 7 p.m. The orientation is open to the public and is expected to last until around 9 p.m.

Sally Anderson, the Wasilla branch operations manager, said there is a wide range of volunteer positions open at this time. Office volunteers, community project volunteers, teachers and disaster assistance team participants are just a few of the areas where volunteers are needed, Anderson said.

The office has around 120 volunteers, a number which has been increasing over the past year.

Anderson estimated the last year saw around 20 new volunteers added to the rolls. With increasing volunteer numbers, the organization is able to offer more classes and more services in other areas of the borough, Anderson said.

She hopes to soon offer disaster classes to residents in the Big Lake and Meadow Lakes areas, and in Palmer.

In the last year, more than 700 people were trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first-aid classes. The teachers for those classes were all volunteers.

"The paid staff does not do any of the training," Anderson explained.

The Mat-Su office has two paid staff members - Anderson and Jennifer Crawford, the Mat-Su program coordinator. With the recent opening of a Kenai branch, Anderson said she is performing double duty, working half time in Kenai.

Funding for the local branch comes from various areas, Anderson said, and seems to be something of which there is never enough.

"We are always low on funds," Anderson said with a laugh. This year, she said, those funds are a bit lower than usual as a result of the series of apartment fires that occurred this year in Anchorage. The two Red Cross chapters work together, Anderson said.

"We support them as much as we can, and they support us," she said.

In addition to the assistance provided in Anchorage, the Mat-Su Red Cross chapter responded to 36 house fires over the last year, for which Anderson said they assisted 75 adults and 40 children and issued vouchers for food and clothing totaling nearly $22,000.

To replace the constant outpouring of funds, the chapter holds its yearly Pee Wee Safety Fun Run snowmachine race in conjunction with the South Port Marina in Big Lake. Anderson said the Marina stages the race and puts up a children's snowmachine to be raffled off. The Red Cross receives the raffle proceeds and entry fees from the race, which has become an increasingly popular event.

The office also receives an apportionment of funds from the national American Red Cross office, Anderson said, but donations and grants are the organization's mainstay. Not all donations come in the form of cash, she added. The office recently received the gift of a 1987 Toyota Camry wagon, which she said will be used to respond to disasters or carry the mannequins along to CPR and first aid classes.

In addition to teaching classes and responding to fires, the organization has also developed programs to teach school-age children the importance of knowing how to respond in a disaster situation. Anderson said the Masters of Disaster program may be used by high-school volunteers who teach it in the classrooms of younger children, although she is hoping area teachers, when presented with the material, will incorporate it more fully into their curriculum.

Another program which is currently being developed is a pet first aid class. Crawford, who has been instrumental in the formation of the program, said the material for the class was developed in Los Angeles, so there are several climate-related considerations that need to be incorporated, along with some additional reconstruction of the class.

Crawford said she has a lot of support from some of the area's big-name mushers, who are working with her on the project. She hopes to have the material ready to teach by the time the mushing season begins. Rookie mushers are among the groups Crawford said she would like to see go through the class.

The new programs, however, depend on the continued participation of volunteers. With more people involved, more classes can be offered. Anderson said she really encouraged anyone interested in the Red Cross to attend the orientation - and she emphasized that there was no pressure to volunteer after attending.

"The thing we try to make volunteers understand is that they are volunteers - they can say no," Anderson said.

For more information about the Red Cross or to reserve a space for the orientation, contact Anderson at 357-6060.