Red Cross Turning Heartbreak into Hope in your Community

TINTON FALLS, NJ, February 11, 2011 – At 5:00 a.m. on this frigid morning, the Jersey Coast Chapter of the American Red Cross received a phone call for several residents in Asbury Park needing assistance after their home caught fire. The fire broke out this morning on Summerfield Avenue, Asbury Park, leaving three families out of their multi-floor home. The Jersey Coast Chapter sent volunteers to help the nine adults and three children who needed immediate emergency assistance by providing them with caring relief and compassion.

Red Cross provided each family with financial assistance based on their needs to purchase the necessities such as food, clothing, containers to salvage their belongings and emergency housing at a local hotel to help get them back on their feet. Comfort kits with items like toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap and other hygiene products were given as well as snacks.

“People read in the news that the Red Cross shows up on-scene during or immediately following an emergency such as a house fire to help the families, but what the public doesn’t realize is how we arrive there and have the means to provide assistance locally,” said Melissa DeGennaro, spokeswoman for the Red Cross Jersey Coast Chapter.

The Red Cross receives phone calls from a variety of different sources such as the fire department, friends of the effected family or even the family themselves. That phone call then goes to a staffing person who is always on-call 24-7 whether it be a staff member or volunteer depending on the time of day. Then, a phone call goes directly to a disaster volunteer who will get in the car immediately to arrive on the scene to provide the necessary assistance to the individuals or families who look so distraught from having lost all of their possessions. “At the Red Cross it is ordinary people doing extraordinary things to help those who need it,” said DeGennaro.

To learn more about how to volunteer or donate so that we can continue providing aid to our neighbors throughout Monmouth and Ocean Counties, please call 732-493-9100 or visit www.jerseycoast-redcross.org.