The American Red Cross of Chicago & Northern Illinois honored 12 local heroes in 11 categories at the annual Red Cross Heroes Breakfast on May 1. Read more about the event and watch the 2019 Hero Award videos here.
In the past week, volunteer disaster responders have also been dispatched to 21 fires and helped 89 people. Of the people helped, 59 were adults and 30 were children. The fires happened in towns and neighborhoods across Chicago & northern Illinois including Harvey, Berwyn, Blue Island, Rockford, Flossmoor and 10 of them happening in Chicago.
The Red Cross provided resources to help address immediate basic needs of those affected such as temporary housing, food, clothing, comfort kits with toiletry items, information about recovery services and health and mental health services.
The Red Cross will continue the “Sound the Alarm” campaign this week by installing hundreds of free smoke alarms along with local partners.
On Thursday, volunteers will return to Chicago’s Austin neighborhood and on Saturday volunteers will be in Rockford and Bolingbrook. This is part of the American Red Cross effort to install 100,000 smoke alarms nationwide in a two-week period to reduce deaths and injuries caused by home fires. In Chicago and Northern Illinois, the Red Cross plans to install more than 2,000 smoke alarms in the region, including in the locations listed below:
Saturday, May 11
Rockford – Ken Rock Community Center, 3218 11th St.
Bolingbrook – Bolingbrook High School, 365 Raider Way
Saturday, May 18
Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood – Douglas Park, 1401 S. Sacramento Dr.
Joliet – University of St. Francis (St. Clare Campus), 1550 Plainfield Rd.
Watch this video to see more about “Sound the Alarm.”
Find a link to installation b-roll here.
Residents can schedule a free smoke alarm installation at getasmokealarm.org.
If you like to volunteer and help the Red Cross install free smoke alarms in your community, visit soundthealarm.org/chicago.
The Red Cross responds to nearly 64,000 disasters a year, the majority of which are home fires. Working smoke alarms in a home cut the risk of death by half, and having an escape plan further improves the odds of survival. The Red Cross wants to end these tragedies and save lives, the reason why the organization launched the Home Fire Campaign in 2014.
About the American Red Cross of Chicago & Northern Illinois:
The American Red Cross of Chicago & Northern Illinois serves 9.5 million people in 21 counties including Boone, Bureau, Carroll, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Jo Daviess, LaSalle, Lake, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Putnam, Stephenson, Whiteside, Will and Winnebago. The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit us at redcross.org/il/chicago or visit us on Twitter @ChicagoRedCross.
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