Red Cross Volunteers Treated to Lunch By Anonymous Diner

Responding to a call for action from the Red Cross to support the Martin Luther King Day of Service, more than a dozen volunteers joined Red Cross staff members from the Lake to River Chapter to offer residents of Warren, Niles and Girard fire safety tips and free smoke alarm installations.

Some of those volunteers were thanked in an unexpected, but welcome, way.

They began their day by receiving instructions from Disaster Program Manager, Scott Meeker and Disaster Program Specialist, Kristen Gallagher, and then headed out into the wintry Northeast Ohio weather, braving blowing snow and single-digit temperatures.

Several teams were formed, each visiting the homes of residents who registered with the Red Cross for free fire safety instruction and free smoke alarm installation.

Photo Credit: Cal Pusateri/American Red Cross Volunteer

During their lunch break, three volunteers ate at the Jib Jab Hot Dog Shoppe in Girard.

“They were all wearing Red Cross vests and were talking about the alarms they had installed that morning,” said Karen Conklin, Executive Director of the Red Cross Lake to River Chapter.  “When they went to pay the bill, a good Samaritan had already paid it. How cool is that?”

The volunteers, from Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church and Christ Episcopal Church, were joined by Lt. Chuck Eggleston of the Warren Fire Department during the Day of Service in honor of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.  They installed 95 smoke alarms in 40 homes, making each neighborhood they entered safer.

If you live in Northeast Ohio, and would like a free fire safety inspection and free smoke alarms installed in your home, visit redcross.org/neoosal.