Red Cross Utah needs support

Courtesy photo/Red Cross

+ Enlarge

A Red Cross volunteer distributes food to a woman after a disaster in their local community.

SALT LAKE CITY — With the ongoing pandemic and frequent natural disasters across the country in recent months, the resources of the American Red Cross have been strained. Here in Utah, the Red Cross has been called out after windstorms, floods and fires, as well as individual events such as apartment fires.

Local Catholics could do a lot to help the agency and those who suffer from these disasters, said Susan Thomas, a St. Thomas More parishioner and Red Cross board member.

“Part of being Catholic is caring about the world around you and loving your neighbors,” she said. “Working with your local parish, it’s great to have opportunities to help others and working with the American Red Cross is very similar. It helps provide a vehicle for you to be able to reach out to people who need your help.”

Service opportunities with the Red Cross vary considerably, from becoming part of one of the organization’s disaster action teams to donating a couple of hours of computer work. The Red Cross provides training both online and in person, for all its volunteers, Thomas said.

Virtual volunteer opportunities also are available. In a local situation such as a house or apartment complex fire, these volunteers can connect displaced families with important resources such as housing, food and clothing.

“After the fire department comes and puts out the fire, they leave,” Thomas said. “That’s when the Red Cross comes on the scene, and the Red Cross works with families who need a place to stay, a hug and a shoulder to cry on. We can provide them with many helpful resources.”

“Helping one family with all of those things takes a lot of teamwork,” she added. Many of the logistic needs for individual and community disasters can be handled virtually; hundreds of those instances occur every year, she said.

There are a variety of levels of commitment and commitment of time, she said. “You can volunteer according to your ability and your flexibility and your calendar needs.”

The Red Cross also needs monetary donations; information about various ways to donate can be found on the redcross.org website. The American Red Cross also runs blood donation centers.

“Giving blood is really important,” Thomas said. “In disasters blood is needed and at different times of the year, there are often blood shortages. Donating your blood can help save lives.”

“I just like to give back and do well,” Thomas said of the reason for her service. “I just enjoy supporting my Catholic parish and have also enjoyed leading committees and serving as a board member at the American Red Cross. We just roll up our sleeves and do a little work and help make the world a little bit of a better place.”

Helping the Red Cross and other service organizations encompasses several of the Corporal Works of Mercy which Catholics use as a model to help them follow the example of Jesus Christ. Those works include feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick and the imprisoned and burying the dead.

The Red Cross follows local pandemic health and safety protocols. For information, visit https://www.redcross.org/local/utah.html or call the Utah Red Cross at 801-323-7000.