Two area high school teams compete to help the Red Cross

By Aaron Sudholt, as published in the St. Clair County Journal.

Two groups of area high school students recently helped make a difference in the lives of those affected by a tragedy.

The American Red Cross Metro East Service Center in Fairview Heights recently coordinated two groups from the Red Cross YouthCorps programs at Belleville West High School and O'Fallon High School to make 223 "comfort kits" for the Red Cross.

Comfort kits are boxes of hygiene supplies given to families who have recently lost a home to fire. Supplies include washcloths, soap, shampoo and more.

"This comfort kit has all the sanitary items they would need to help them for at least a couple of days," Service Center Manager Sandy Vaughn said. "Every time we go out to a fire, each person would get a comfort kit."

Typically, a fire department calls the Red Cross to the scene of a fire, either as its happening or the day after, and the agency offers assistance to the affected family in the form of counseling or services.

"We help more than 1,100 families every year who lose their homes to fire," said Stephen Hall, spokesperson for the St. Louis Area Chapter of the Red Cross.

Student members of the Red Cross YouthCorps from Belleville West competed against student members from O'Fallon High School.

The team from Belleville West collected goods during their lunch periods and asked for donations. The O'Fallon team partnered with the Girl Scouts of River Bluffs Council to collect goods and placed bags on the doors of their neighbors seeking donations.

"We had the Girl Scouts, they were a huge help to us," O'Fallon team member Kara Thomas said. "They went to hotels, they went to neighborhoods and they went to find everything they could to put in these comfort kits."

In the end, 223 kits were assembled, with O'Fallon creating 173 of them over the four-week competition period in March and April.

"I wouldn't let them count a kit unless it was absolutely complete," Vaughn said.

The O'Fallon team earned a trip to the Illinois State Emergency Operations Center and the Illinois State Capitol on March 30.

"It was really fun. Most of us haven't been to Springfield since our second-grade field trip way back in the day," Thomas said. "We got to meet (Illinois Senator James Clayborne Jr.)".

Red Cross YouthCorps is a volunteer group for area high school students. They train individuals in the programs of the American Red Cross during after-school group sessions held weekly.