The American Red Cross, a mpls downtown council organization, launched a campaign focused on raising awareness about house fires and home safety. More people died last year in fires than all other disasters combined. The South the Alarm campaign looks to help combat that statistic.
Through this initiative, the Red Cross will be installing 2,000 smoke alarms and providing fire safety education in homes across Minnesota from April 28 through May 13. The end result of these efforts, they hope, will reduce death and injury in home fires by 25 percent by the year 2020.
Red Cross volunteers, along with fire departments and other partners canvass at-risk neighborhoods, installing free smoke alarms, replacing batteries in existing alarms, and providing fire prevention and safety education. In just three years, we’ve accomplished so much, including the installation of more than 1 million smoke alarms nationally and prepared more than 1 million people against home fires through our home visits. The goal is to install 2.5 million smoke alarms nationally by 2020.
Here are two ways you can help:
- Join the Red Cross as a volunteer and help install alarms. There will be a volunteer event in Minneapolis on April 28 and one in St. Paul on May 10. You can learn more at www.soundthealarm.com/mn.
- Help support the cost of the event. A $15 donation can cover the fire safety training and installation of one smoke alarm. The smoke alarms are free to families who need them thanks to generous donors. You can donate by clicking here.
In Minnesota, the Red Cross has already installed 17,000 alarms. More than 380 lives have already been saved, including 135 children.
Help this great cause and save a life.
