After a cost-saving measure that consolidated offices in 2010, The American Red Cross is growing again in Warren County.
The service organization has a number of projects ranging from disaster shelter training to smoke alarm instillation in the works and is hoping to increase its local volunteer base, said Morgan Bell, the local volunteer coordinator.
“If something happens, we want the local people serving the local community,” Bell said.
Bell began her position with the Red Cross in July, and has been working to expand the pool of volunteers.
“I literally started on foot going door to door downtown,” she said.
In 2010, Red Cross officials announced the Vicksburg Area Chapter would be consolidated with operations in Jackson as part of a project to trim more than half a million dollars from their statewide budget.
Many Red Cross volunteers contacted by the Post since consolidation, expressed frustration but declined to comment publicly. Some dropped out of the organization altogether.
“At this point, all of our long-standing volunteers are back on board,” Bell said.
On Saturday the Red Cross held a disaster shelter at Hawkins United Methodist Church, and next weekend a Boy Scout troop will portray disaster victims as students of the shelter class put their skills to the test.
“We want to make sure we have them prepared ahead of time,” Bell said. “I’m really grateful we’ve got back volunteers to be able to do that.”
Monday, volunteers and FEMA Corps members will install smoke alarms at homes across Vicksburg that were selected from neighborhoods with the highest number of fire relief responses, Bell said.
“They’ll be talking to residents about home fire preparedness as well as their smoke alarms,” she said.
The Red Cross Home Fire Preparedness Initiative under which the alarms are installed is designed to decrease the number of fire injuries and fatalities by 25 percent, said Kim Abrams, disaster program manager from the Red Cross of Southwest Mississippi.
“Our goal is to raise awareness about the dangers of home fires, then teach people how to prevent them, and ensure that if they don’t have working smoke alarms to allow us to do an installation in their home,” Abrams said.
Volunteers are also needed for fire response. The Red Cross through a partnership with Vicksburg and Warren County fire departments helps victims of fires get back on their feet.
“We’re responding to fires all the time,” Bell said. “But volunteers would have to come from Flowood, and the last thing a fire victim wants to do is wait 45 minutes for someone to arrive.”
Community members who are interested in volunteering with the Red Cross can call Morgan Bell at the Red Cross office in Vicksburg 601-814-0553 or visit redcross.org/Mississippi.