By Kim Bell, as published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The American Red Cross here is trying to recruit and train hundreds of volunteers before the next disaster strikes the metro area.
With the help of a $1 million grant from Grainger, an Illinois-based distribution firm, the Red Cross has set up the "Ready When the Time Comes" program in St. Louis and 15 other American cities.
The St. Louis Area Chapter of the Red Cross announced the local initiative Saturday at St. Raphael the Archangel School in south St. Louis. The school is one of 600 sites designated as emergency shelters across seven counties in the St. Louis area.
Vivian Luce of the Red Cross said the agency wants to train 250 more disaster volunteers. The volunteers get trained in setting up shelters, food service and other duties. "That will bring our total to 850," she said. "That's an aggressive goal."
Luce wants them in place for the next natural or man-made disaster. She mentioned the 1993 floods, the tornadoes that struck last spring and the threat of a New Madrid earthquake.
When disaster hits, officials won't turn people away who want to help, but its better if they're already trained, said Gary Christmann of St. Louis' Emergency Management Agency.
About 120 volunteers Saturday took part in the kickoff training exercise. Anheuser-Busch is a local sponsor for the program.
The Red Cross needs 30 people per shift to work at each shelter. At St. Raphael on Saturday, a room was converted to a mock shelter where volunteers set up dozens of cots and dished out hot meals.
Grainger, a distributor of facilities maintenance supplies based in Lake Forest, Ill., is founding sponsor of the program. Grainger spokeswoman Laura Brown said the company donated generators and other supplies after Hurricane Katrina and St. Louis' ice storms.
The program's aim is to get local businesses to allow their workers to be trained as Red Cross volunteers. Anyone interested should contact Nancy Bates at the American Red Cross at 314.516.2800 or go to www.redcrossstl.org.
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