How Detroit Red Cross Deflects Disasters
By Lamar Lockridge, Power of Two Intern

The Power of Two program has been implemented in locales all across the U.S.A., from Rhode Island to California, plus Hawaii and Alaska too. But, let's shed light on how the American Red Cross Southeastern Michigan Chapter in Detroit has implemented the Power of Two program in its community. First off, why did the Southeastern Michigan Chapter implement the program at their local American Red Cross? The answer is so that the chapter could go from a staff-driven disaster public affairs program to a volunteer-driven program. Professionally-savvy PR volunteers let the paid Red Cross staff focus on more day-to-day marketing communication activities, such as establishing lasting partnerships with the media.

Bryan Peckinpaugh, the chapter's marketing manager, states that "the Power of Two program has been the saving grace of our Disaster Public Affairs program at the Southeastern Michigan Chapter."

Currently there are three Power of Two volunteers on the "on-call rotation" established by the chapter's disaster public affairs department. These three are part of a total of 10 Power of Two volunteers who have participated in the program since its inception in 2002. Peckinpaugh says the chapter has lost a few volunteers over the years because intense time commitments for full participation in the "on-call" rotation conflicts with their regular daytime job duties, or volunteers move out of the state for new PR jobs. The good news is that if these volunteers did move out of state, "they did commit to working with their new local Red Cross Chapter," so their volunteer PR service with the Red Cross remains continuous.

Power of Two volunteer Joe Martucci found out about the Power of Two program at the Southeastern Michigan Chapter by reading about it in the PRSA Detroit Chapter newsletter. He says, "I noticed an article about the Power of Two program in the PRSA chapter newsletter, and thought that I could use my skills to help." Martucci has been a part of the Southeastern Michigan Chapter family as a valued Power of Two participant for over a year, and he has used his communication expertise locally to help provide news coverage and information at single-family home fires. Presently, Martucci is a community relations consultant for Enbridge Corp., an energy company in Michigan, and liaises with government officials on new projects. He adds that he got a lot of corporate communications experience when he worked for ANR Pipeline Company. Martucci says that what he likes best about participating in the Power of Two program is "the opportunity to promote the Red Cross through the media."

Having the Power of Two program at the Southeastern Michigan Chapter allows this chapter to keep a pool of trained PR professionals to serve in times of need and be available for covering major local disasters, as well as other communications events. Peckinpaugh further elaborates about the program -"What it means to us is that if we have a major disaster whether in metro Detroit or the other side of the country, we have Disaster Public Affairs volunteers on-call." He continues, “each week there is a fresh person on-call that wasn't taxed from the week before so they are better able to handle media inquiries and can be very proactive.”