Tag Archives: Day of Caring

This volunteer donates time, talent and treasure

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By Chris Chmura, American Red Cross volunteer

The American Red Cross celebrates the work and support of the hundreds of thousands of volunteers during National Volunteer Week. Red Cross volunteers fulfill many roles from coordinating blood drives, to responding to home fires in the middle of the night, to serving as board members and many more.

Betsy Sterling, left, and Kim Kroh

Betsy Sterling volunteers with the Red Cross of Heartland, Stark and Muskingum Lakes. Betsy met chapter Executive Director Kim Kroh years ago at a charity event called Day of Caring and they have supported each other ever since. 

Betsy is a Tiffany Circle member, current board chair (past 9 years), an every 56-day blood donor, hosts regular blood drives at her company, and a former BASH co-chair (two years in a row).  BASH is an annual fundraiser for the chapter which raised $80,000 in 2022.  Monies raised by this event are used to support the chapter’s work in the local community:

  • Installing free, life-saving smoke alarms
  • Saving lives through health and safety training in CPR/First id/AED & Aquatics Training
  • Providing shelter, clothing, food, comfort & hope to families devastated by home fires
  • Supporting U.S. service men and women during an emergency
  • Supplying critical blood, platelets, and plasma to patients in area hospitals

In 2023, the chapter is combining the BASH fund raiser with the annual Festival of Trees to create a unique event!  https://www.redcross.org/local/ohio/northern-ohio/about-us/news-and-events/events/festival-of-trees.html  

The Tiffany Circle is a close group of people that donates their own personal funds to support the Red Cross.   

Betsy and her family are true believers in giving back to their community.  She is a third-generation member of the Sterling family Beaver Excavating Company.  Community service has played a key role in shaping the long history of community involvement that Beaver Excavating’s ownership and employees have created. Contributions not only include personal time and money, but also have included many donations of construction services, labor, and materials.  

Nationally, the Red Cross has more than 200,000 volunteers, which makes up more than 90 percent of the workforce.  The Heartland, Stark and Muskingum Lakes Chapter is thankful to have humble volunteers like Betsy Sterling.  Her time is extremely valuable because she works in her family business, takes time to volunteer for several charities, and perhaps most importantly is a mom.  

Posted by Ryan Lang, Red Cross board member and volunteer

More NEO Lives Saved After Smoke Alarms Sound

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By Eilene Guy, American Red Cross volunteer

2018 Richland Co Day of CaringIII

Volunteers from Mechanics Bank and the Mansfield Police Department with Red Cross workers on Richland County United Way Day of Caring,  August 3, 2018.

MANSFIELD, Ohio – Two Mansfield residents owe their very lives to free smoke alarms from the American Red Cross.

The alarms – installed during the United Way of Richland County Day of Caring on Aug. 4, 2017 – did their job on Feb. 13 this year, when fire broke out in a mobile home and a mother and her daughter were able to escape safely.

“Having working smoke alarms is vital to the safety and security of the residents in a home,” said Lara Kiefer, executive director of the Lake Erie/Heartland Chapter of the Red Cross, which serves Richland and six other northcentral Ohio counties.

“Most people think they have up to 10 minutes to safely escape a home fire, but studies show it’s closer to two minutes,” she said. The vast majority of the disasters the Red Cross responds to are home fires and tragically, seven people die every day in this country from home fire-related injuries.

In 2014, the Red Cross launched the Home Fire Campaign, a nationwide initiative to reduce the number of fire related deaths by 25 percent. Since the start of the program, more than 460 lives have been saved, including 12 in the city of Lorain.

To learn more about the importance of having working smoke alarms on every level of your home, or to ask for a home fire safety inspection and smoke alarm installation, visit soundthealarm.org/neo.

2018 Richland Co Day of CaringI

Lake Erie/Heartland Chapter Executive Director Lara Kiefer and Executive Coordinator Christina Ennis with members of the Madison Township Fire Department

On Friday, August 3rd, Red Cross volunteers and other community partners, including Mechanics Bank, the Mansfield Police Department and the Madison Township Fire Department, joined volunteers from the United Way of Richland County in this year’s Day of Caring, installing smoke alarms and providing fire safety education to Mansfield residents.

“It’s gratifying to know that our partnership with the United Way of Richland County has had such a positive impact in our community,” Keifer said, referring to the lives saved in Mansfield earlier this year.

To learn more about the many volunteer opportunities within the Red Cross – from preventing and responding to disasters (such as home fires) to serving our armed forces to teaching first aid, babysitting or water safety skills – visit redcross.org/neo and click the volunteer tab.