Baltimore, MD, Thursday, April 26, 2018 — The American Red Cross is getting ready to Sound the Alarm against home fires. From April 28 to May 13, thousands of Red Cross volunteers and partners across the country will install 100,000 free smoke alarms in communities at high risk for fires.
In this area, the Central Maryland Chapter of the Greater Chesapeake Region will install free smoke alarms on Saturday, April 28th.
The Sound The Alarm Campaign Day will kick-off with a media event at the Central Maryland Chapter and Regional Headquarters of the American Red Cross.
Address: 4800 Mt. Hope Drive, Baltimore, MD 21215 REAR PARKING LOT
Schedule: We will be using the Chapter Headquarters as our central point for the event, meaning registration, lunch, etc. Schedule below:
8:30am – 9:00 Registration, light breakfast
9:00am – 9:30 Pep Rally, training, etc.
9:30am – 10:00 Travel to assigned neighborhoods and begin canvassing
10:00am-12:00 Install alarms in neighborhoods
12:00am-12:30 Return back to Chapter Headquarters for lunch
12:30am- Lunch and wrap-up – celebrate installing 200++ alarms
The targeted community will consist of:
• Baltimore City neighborhood Howard Park in the 21215 zip code, which is close to our Chapter/Regional Headquarters. We are using this location as the rally site for the event and it will be easy for the media to attend both the kick-off and then follow the volunteers as they do their canvasing of the selected community of Howard Park to install alarms and provide fire safety education.
• A volunteer team did pre-canvassing on Wednesday, April 25th of the neighborhoods that we will be covering.
• The zip code of 21215 has the highest density of fires in our community, therefore that is why this particular area of Baltimore was chosen.
“Smoke alarms save lives,” said Scott R. Salemme, Regional Chief Executive Officer, “Three out of every five home fire deaths in this country happen in homes that don’t have working smoke alarms. So we here in Baltimore are joining this national effort to install 100,000 nationwide by installing more than 200 alarms in local homes that need them most.”
During the Sound the Alarm event, Red Cross volunteers and partners will canvass high-risk neighborhoods to install free smoke alarms, replace batteries in existing alarms, and help families create escape plans. These smoke alarm installation events are part of the multi-year Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, launched in 2014 to reduce the number of home fire deaths and injuries in this country. The campaign is making a difference. As of March 31, 2018:
• The Home Fire Campaign is credited with helping to save 416 lives.
• Red Cross volunteers and 4,400 campaign partners have installed more than 1.2 million smoke alarms.
• 1.3 million people have been served through visits to more than a half-million homes.
• More than a million children have been reached through specially targeted programs.
Here in Central Maryland the local Red Cross has installed 11,103 smoke alarms and made 4,562 homes safer as of March 31, 2018,
Join the Red Cross to help families fight against home fires today by volunteering to install smoke alarms in your community, making a financial contribution at redcross.org, or taking two easy steps to help save lives – practicing fire drills at home and checking your smoke alarms every month. Together, we can Sound the Alarm about fire safety and help save lives. Learn more at soundthealarm.org.
This work is made possible thanks to generous financial donations from national partners: Almost Family, Delta Air Lines and International Paper. The Red Cross has also received funding from FEMA through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program.
Locally, as a strong supporter of Red Cross work to prevent and prepare families for home fires, particularly in the Greater Baltimore area, Transamerica is honored to continue partnering with the Red Cross as a sponsor of the First Annual Sound The Alarm Signature Event.
About the American Red Cross:
About the American Red Cross Greater Chesapeake Region (www.redcross.org/gcr):
On average the American Red Cross of the Greater Chesapeake Region provides help to Maryland, Delaware and Virginia families four times each day after disasters to include emergency shelter, food, clothing and counseling, thanks to the generosity of financial donors and the commitment of nearly 1,200 volunteers. Each day the Red Cross also provides lifesaving blood to area hospitals, teaches lifesaving skills, and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization — not a government agency — and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its humanitarian mission. For more information or to donate, please visit RedCross.org/gcr or Tweet us @RedCrossGCR.