The American Red Cross in Central and Western South Dakota is pleased to announce a $100,000 grant award from the John T. Vucurevich Foundation.

“We are incredibly grateful for the John T. Vucurevich Foundation’s investment in our organization, our mission and our community,” said Richard Smith, Executive Director for the Red Cross in Central and Western South Dakota. “This grant will go a long way in making sure residents are as safe as they can be, prepared in case of a home fire emergency, and the Red Cross has adequate means to deliver critical disaster relief services to our neighbors in need.”

Of this grant, $25,000 will support the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign. With the goal of reducing deaths and injuries caused by home fires, Red Cross volunteers and partners install free smoke alarms in homes, help families create fire escape plans, and educate people about home fire safety.

The remaining $75,000 of this generous grant is a matching gift toward the purchase of a next-generation Emergency Response Vehicle. In Fiscal Year 2018, the Dakotas Region of the Red Cross responded to more than 400 local disasters. We were there for events like the Vineyard Wildfire, tornadoes and devastating home fires. Since the Red Cross was founded, we’ve relied on dependable vehicles to deliver our mission. Today, our iconic emergency response vehicles remain at the heart of our disaster relief and recovery work. These highly visible vehicles provide our volunteer workforce with recognized and trusted means to easily reach people in need.

Gifts such as this one from the John T. Vucurevich Foundation enable us to help communities prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters big and small. We’d like to give our sincerest gratitude to the John T. Vucurevich Foundation and all others who give time, talent and treasure to support the mission of the American Red Cross.

About the John T. Vucurevich Foundation:

The John T. Vucurevich Foundation honors and builds on the personal legacy of giving of John T. Vucurevich by facilitating solutions to key challenges facing South Dakota and the Black Hills Region. JTVF provides funding and human resources to make a greater impact on the community through a collaborative approach that creates a sense of shared responsibility among partners and promotes long-term sustainable change.