Red Cross Month

This March, take a moment to celebrate Red Cross Month by giving back to the community. Work with the Red Cross and turn compassion into action.

“During Red Cross Month, we recognize our wonderful volunteers who help us achieve our mission of preventing and alleviating human suffering in the face of emergencies,” states the official Red Cross website. “Not all heroes wear capes, but some wear an American Red Cross vest.”

The Red Cross Month celebration has been going on for seventy-eight years now. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the first Red Cross Month proclamation in 1943, and the tradition has been going strong ever since. Now, nearly eight decades later, the Red Cross continues to celebrate its dedicated volunteers over a month-long celebration.

The Red Cross is comprised of a workforce of more than ninety percent volunteers, relying heavily on the compassion and dedication of everyday people to keep the organization moving. Volunteering with the Red Cross is more than just donating blood: volunteers can potentially provide disaster relief, support military members, or volunteer as a blood transportation specialist.

The Red Cross works internationally to provide the victims of disasters with food, shelter, emotional support, and humanitarian aid. In addition, the Red Cross also teaches valuable life saving skills. Locally, the Red Cross works to coordinate classes on CPR, AED, first aid, and lifeguarding to help educate the public and potentially save lives.

The American Red Cross provides a staggering forty percent of all blood donations in America. This month, donate blood at Bethesda Presbyterian Church on the 12th, Longleaf Golf and Family Club on the 23rd, and Sandhills Cycle Center on the 26th.

For more information or to donate, visit the Red Cross Moore County Chapter at 115 E. Pennsylvania Ave Ste 16 in Southern Pines, or log on to www.redcross.org