Essex County Red Cross
Essex Red Cross Unit
P.O. Box 1688
Tappahannock , VA 22560Tel: 804-443-6498
Email: essexredcross@yahoo.comVolunteer servers at the August 5 th Applebee’s Benefit Breakfast for Essex Red Cross include Etta Davis, Bob Jung, Dorothy Beverly, Emerson Hughes, Doreather Beverly, Debbie Van Doren, Kathy Hughes, Jackie Taylor, Gordon Given, Helen Roane, Pat Given, David Jones and Donna Richardson and not in the picture, Charlie Layne and Larry Van Doren . One hundred eighty nine friends and financial supporters were served and $1,500 raised to support local Essex Red Cross programs.
Brief History - An Essex Red Cross Unit is starting once again as the result of a year long search by Essex Churches Together (ECT) to find a worthy volunteer effort to provide assistance and support to Essex residents during times of disaster and tragedy.
The Essex Red Cross Unit is currently a State Service Delivery Area (SSDA) under the Greater Richmond Area Chapter.
Henry Williams, Chapter Solutions Manager for the Mid-Atlantic Region, came to our May 2006 Essex Red Cross Unit meeting and gave an overview of the new three tier field structure that will become official in October when the model is presented for this structure. We know little now other than the first level will be a Regional Chapter which will manage several of the second tier units, Community Chapters. The third tier will be a Point of Service which we believe to be an area needing services but lacking the necessary volunteers to provide the services independently. Our best speculation at this point is that the Essex Red Cross Unit would eventually become a Community Chapter.
While we must wait on the actions of others to see where the Essex Red Cross Unit will officially fit in the reorganization, we are proceeding with efforts to provide the following primary Red Cross Services to Essex County.
Single Family Disasters - we are currently trained and have volunteers ready to provide assistance in the event of a single family fire. While we hope this will not happen, the reality is that in 2004, Essex County suffered more deaths in single family fires than any other county in the state. The next time this tragedy strikes, we want neighbors and friends responding with the Red Cross services and assistance.
Sheltering - some volunteers have received training and we are participating in the Essex County Disaster drills preparing for a real disaster. Much more planning and volunteers are needed to strengthen this service. Essex County resident have been very fortunate for several years as we have yet to be hit by hurricane force winds or a major tornado. Now is the time to join the Essex Red Cross Unit and help Essex County Agencies prepare for responding to disaster situations.
Essex Blood Drives - this is one area that the Essex Red Cross Unit can and must focus on immediately. While the Knights of Columbus have done an exceptional job of sponsoring the Blood drives in Essex County, Essex County residents must do a much better job of supporting blood drives. Currently we are far behind Richmond, Northumberland, Middlesex and Lancaster counties in donating blood. In 2005, we collected 121 pints in 6 blood drive averaging just 20 pints per drive which means just 0.2% of the Essex County population donated blood at the Red Cross Blood drives. In 2006, we have already collected in Essex County 142 pints in 5 drives (including a St. Margaret’s School sponsored drive) for an average of 28.4 pints/drive. Red Cross statistics suggest that 5-10% of the general population of a given area is healthy enough to donate blood. A Essex Blood Drive goal of 100 pints/drive can easily be achieved with your support. Become a donor and do something as simple as donating blood to save a life. Our next Essex County Blood Drive will be on September 11 and the last drive in 2006 should be held on November 6th. Your actions speak volumes.
New Blood Drive Feature for Essex County - we are pleased to inform you that eDonor [see www.GiveLife.org ] is now available for Blood Drives in Essex County . eDonor allows blood donors the opportunity to select a time slot for their blood donation at all future blood drives. This new feature should help reduce the backlog and delays for giving blood. As more people use this feature, it will send a message to Mid-Atlantic Blood Services that our participation in Essex Blood Drive support is growing and as they see an increasing number of preset appointments, they will recognize that they need to send more nurses and set up more donor beds to more effectively handle the volume and to make sure that they will bring enough donor kits.
