HOULTON — The Houlton Rotary Club welcomed representatives from the Pine Tree Chapter of the American Red Cross Feb. 4.
“The American Red Cross prevents and alleviates human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors”, states the mission of the organization.
Todd Nadeau, executive director of the Pine Tree Chapter of the American Red Cross and guest of Rotarian Lori Weston, explained that the Red Cross services are directed “Down the Street. Across the Country and Around the World.”
There are five areas of service that people are aware that the Red Cross provides: Disaster Relief, Biomedical (blood donation), Preparedness, Health and Safety Service, International and Services to the Armed Forces. Every 60 seconds, 250 people are assisted by the American Red Cross; 300,000 times a day a child receives a measles vaccination from the Red Cross and their partners; 200 times a day the Red Cross volunteers help a family affected by a house fire or a disaster; 32,877 times a day a person receives lifesaving Red Cross health, safety and preparedness training; 380 times a day the Red Cross connects armed forces members with their families; and 95 percent of the Red Cross consists of volunteers, of which there are over 600,000. They provide immediate assistance after a disaster.
Contributed photo/Michael Clark
GUEST SPEAKER — The Houlton Rotary Club welcomed guest speakers from the Pine Tree Chapter of the American Red Cross on Monday, Feb. 4. From left are, Lori Weston, Houlton Rotarian and her guests Stacy Caler, operations coordinator and Todd Nadeau, executive director of the Pine Tree Chapter of the American Red Cross.
According to Nadeau, the Red Cross provides the nation’s largest supply of blood and blood products and hosts 600 blood drives every day. The Red Cross provides nearly 400,000 services to active duty military member and Reservists. They have helped over 72,000 wounded warriors in their time of need and have distributed 500,000 comfort and therapy items to them.
Teaching and preparing people to save lives with life-saving first aid training, CPR, swimming and life-guarding skills are another major function of the Red Cross. In 2011 the Red Cross trained 4 million people to save lives through Red Cross First Aid, CPR or AED use. They conduct the largest learn-to-swim program in the communities across America.
Internationally, the American Red Cross is busy saving the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people. The Red Cross has 600 local chapters and over 500,000 volunteers. Working with global partners, they help over 5.3 million people. In 2011, the Red Cross worked in 23 disaster-affected countries.
The Red Cross works efficiently and effectively as average of 91 cents of every dollar it spends is invested in humanitarian services and programs. The Red Cross is grateful for each and every volunteer they have. Nadeau explained that more volunteers are needed.
Volunteers can choose to participate in only local disasters or to be deployed to disaster areas outside of the locale. There are 18 different types of volunteer positions to consider.
On March 8-9, the Red Cross will provide Emergency Services and Disaster Training in the Houlton. If you are interested, please contact Rob Eaton at 941-2903 ext. 103.
