Red Cross Day of Service Projects Help to Strenghten our Community | Community Spirit

American Red Cross volunteers throughout Alabama will be working to strengthen our neighborhoods during the coming weekend. The weekend includes both the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service and the National Day of Service marked by President Obama to kick off the 57th Presidential Inauguration.

Volunteers from the Red Cross and other partner agencies will be giving their neighbors tips on how to prevent home fires and how to escape safely should a fire occur. Below is a listing of events going on throughout the Central Alabama Area.

Volunteer with Hands-On will be distributing Red Cross fire safety information in the Montgomery area neighborhoods listed below from 9:00am to 12:00pm on January 21.

• Carter Hill Road
• Capital Heights
• Fairview and Mobile Highway

“Almost 60 percent of home and apartment fires are caused by cooking or heating. These are disasters that can usually be prevented if people think about safety as they cook and as they heat their homes,” said Chris Osborne, Alabama Region Communications Officer.

Red Crossers, along with volunteers from Hands-On will talk to residents who are available, and will leave safety door hangers for people who are not at home. The door hangers, printed in both English and Spanish, provide cooking and heating tips, and also highlight the importance of smoke alarms and the need to create and practice a fire escape plan.

The biggest disaster threat to American families isn’t floods, hurricanes or tornadoes; it’s fire. In 2012, the Alabama Region provided food, shelter, comfort and hope to hundreds of families affected by home and apartment fires.

Source: American Red Cross