The American Red Cross, Mile High Chapter is helping the relief efforts in Haití

answering phone calls almost non-stop from Coloradoans who want to donate to the cause, and our front desk has taken dozens of walk-in donations. Meanwhile, we have staffed nine call-in donation phone banks hosted by four different television stations. Jim [Rettew, Chief Communications Officer] and I have been keeping updated on all the latest information from the national American Red Cross headquarters and relaying it to the local public via media interviews, Web updates and news releases.”

For those people showing an interest in going to Haiti and helping there, she said: “Our volunteer coordinators are, of course, answering many questions from individuals who want to help out in Haiti. We are encouraging these callers to register to become Red Cross volunteers and take the training necessary to be qualified for disaster response. The Red Cross has the most highly trained, highly skilled disaster response force in the world, and so we do send only the most highly qualified volunteers and staff to respond in situations like these. Right now, the American Red Cross has not called on any of the Colorado Chapters to deploy to Haiti.”



In regards to the Red Cross everyday operation in Colorado, Ms. Demchack continued: “...Our workers here at the Mile High Chapter continue to take care of everyday needs right here in our local community – including responding to two house fires in the past five days that displaced families. We have disaster response employees and on-call disaster response teams who are at the ready to respond to local disasters – in fact, we respond to an average of one disaster every 39 hours in the area served by the Mile High Chapter. Our services also include a Health and Safety division that is responsible for training thousands of Coloradans in lifesaving skills every year, such as CPR, First Aid and AED, as well as babysitting and water safety. Part of our Health and Safety department is a Transportation Program that provides low-cost transportation for the elderly, disabled and chronically ill so that they can get to medical appointments and other essential appointments. Finally, our local chapter provides disaster preparedness training and presentations to help ensure that people can be prepared in case a disaster strikes right here in Colorado.”



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