Photos

Plainfield, NJ: The Tri-County Red Cross provided breakfast canteen service to the Point of Distribution (POD) exercise organized by the Union County Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) on Thursday, June 25, 2009 at Muhlenberg Hospital in Plainfield.

 

 

This POD drill was designed to practice the flow of people at a site, to receive medicine during a mass distribution. Different scenarios were given to the participants, including troublemakers, lost children and people with special needs.  The Tri-County Red Cross gives support to first responders, including medical personnel involved in mass care, by providing shelter management training, food and shelter to staff during disasters, and health and disaster mental health services if needed. To learn more about what we do at different types of disasters, please contact Mike Prasad, Director of Emergency Services at 908-756-6414 x15.

The Tri-County Red Cross donated a Shelter Manager Kit to the South Plainfield Office of Emergency Management (OEM) on June 5, 2009. This kit contains all of the paperwork, forms, signs and office supplies needed to open and maintain an shelter in the event there is a fire, evacuation, flood or other disaster that affects South Plainfield or any of the surrounding towns in their area.

The kit, contained in a large storage tub, also contains flashlights, trash bags, extra toilet paper, caution tape, gloves and a number of other items that can help turn a facility into a shelter.  The kit has about $250 worth of items in it - and was funded by the generous donations of the local public to the Tri-County Red Cross. The same type of kit was distributed to North Plainfield OEM last month. We have three more of these kits, which will go out to towns that are active participants with the Red Cross, in terms of establishing Red Cross shelters and providing volunteers to staff those shelters. We serve 22 towns, and we would very much like to have at least one non-school shelter in each town, to support local disasters - so we need funding to build 17 more kits. If you would like to donate towards the purchase of items for these kits, please click on the donate button below.

While the kits have a lot of paperwork forms, signs and other items that a shelter manager needs, missing are cots, blankets, food - and of course the large number of volunteers needed to staff a shelter. The cots, blankets and food we store elsewhere but it's the volunteers that we need more of, to help support local shelters in all of the 22 towns that the Tri-County Red Cross serves. We estimate that it takes at least 30 people to operate a small shelter per day - 10 people per 8 hour shift.

If you are interested in learning more about becoming a shelter volunteer - able to help us in the unlikely event we have a disaster, but ready and trained nonetheless - please visit our special shelter training page on our web site at www.tricountyredcross.org/dc.html.  

Clark, NJ: Volunteers from L'Oreal USA spent part of their 100th Anniversary celebration day on June 4, 2009 doing service projects for different charites - including the American Red Cross. Two disaster vehicles - one from the Tri-County Chapter and one from the Colonial Crossroads Chapter got a L'Oreal "makeover" - a cleanup of the inside and outside, plus some needed electrical work and other fixes. Volunteers also cleaned and sanitized food and beverage storage containers, used to transport food to disaster areas. Both Red Cross chapters were very grateful for the attention and hard work these volunteers provided.

You can view the entire photostream at our Tri-County Red Cross Flickr site.

 

The Tri-County Red Cross helped a family of six when they had a small apartment fire in Plainfield, NJ on March 20th. No one was injured and the family should be able to return to their home after a few days. The Tri-County Red Cross is taking care of their temporary housing and clothing needs. Thanks to the Walt Disney Company for their donation of Mickey Mouse plush toys for the children who are our disaster clients.

You can visit our online Flickr photostream and see other Tri-County Red Cross photos.

Home fires are the biggest local disaster in our area. The Tri-County Red Cross funds its disaster response completely with contributions from local individuals, organizations and businesses.  Please consider contributing $25, $50 or more to help replenish the disaster fund.

$5.00 - Disaster Fund $10.00 - Disaster Fund $25.00 - Disaster Fund $50.00 - Disaster Fund $100.00 - Disaster Fund $250.00 - Disaster Fund $500.00 - Disaster Fund $1,000.00 - Disaster Fund

TD Bank Retail Market Manager Beatrice Romao and Scotch Plains Branch Manager Marc Vernick presented the Tri-County Red Cross with a grant for $5,000 to support its medical transportation today.  The money will be used to fund free and low-cost rides to medical appointments for seniors and low-income residents of Union, Somerset and Middlesex counties.

"As we open Red Cross Month it is fitting that TD Bank, one of our longest and best supporters, provides the resources we need to support the communities we both serve," said Nathan Rudy, Executive Director of the Tri-County Red Cross.  "This enables us to extend our medical transportation program for people who have no other way to get to doctor's appointments, dialysis or chemotherapy.  Truly, TD Bank's support saves lives."