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Are You Ready To Help Others?

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 23, 2008

If you have your own hurricane plan in order, you might want to think about what you and your friends and neighbors can do individually or through neighborhood groups, churches or work to help others in a disaster.

The American Red Cross Tampa Bay chapter, www.redcrosstbc.org, recruits volunteers for community disaster education projects. The Red Cross has offices throughout the region that hold volunteer training sessions. Call 1-877-741-1444 or check the Web site.

Chapter officials offer the following advice about volunteering:

Consider working as a unit. Banding together makes sense, especially for mobile home residents, who should leave during storms anyway.

When offering to volunteer, be realistic about the kinds of jobs you can do and when you can be called. It helps the agency to know the availability of volunteers. Also take into consideration that during disasters, you may need to take care of family members first.

The Red Cross screens prospective volunteers to ensure they don't have criminal records and do have safe driving records.

The Salvation Army, another major nonprofit agency that supplies communities with disaster relief, also needs volunteers. To find out more, call the Tampa office at (813) 226-0055 or the Port Richey office at (727) 815-8539.

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