NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (WTNH) — Thursday is the American Red Cross’s Giving Day. News 8 is proud to partner with the Red Cross for the daylong event. It raises money for the organization so it can help families after an emergency.
Bob Bertolo volunteers for the American Red Cross – in Connecticut and across the country. The organization typically responds to about 70,000 disasters each year, and gives to even more people who are in need.
“We see a lot of relief in their faces when we offer them meals,” he said. “They’re so thankful, so grateful.”
Bertolo was giving his time this morning at the New Britain Fire Department headquarters. Though Giving Day is a day for the community to give back to the Red Cross, the organization was giving today too.
“It’s awesome the way they respond to what we do for them,” said Bertolo.
Volunteers installed smoke alarms for free for people who needed them and taught them how to use the alarms. They stopped by Evelyn Chudzik’s house.
“I’m petrified of a fire happening because my house is 69 years old,” she said.
“It means a lot to help these people,” said Bertolo. “We do a lot of installations in this territory.”
In Connecticut the Red Cross responds to disasters about twice a day, and many of these are house fires. There have been several in New Britain alone. Volunteers hope these alarms will keep people safe.
“When those smoke alarms go off you have less than two minutes to get out of your home, so you need to have two exits out of every room of your home,” said Stefanie Arcangelo, Chief Communications Officer for the American Red Cross Connecticut and Rhode Island Region.
On Giving Day the Red Cross is hoping the community will give so the organization will be able to continue helping those impacted by disasters. They’re raising money and also looking for people to lend a helping hand.
“The devastation that we’ve seen is unbelievable,” said Bertolo. “We just want to help these people as much as we can.”
Please visit this link to donate: http://www.redcross.org/cm/wtnh-pub
