Red Cross plans open house

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

March 2, 1997

By Devlyn Brooks

Staff Writer

In times of natural disasters or even wars, the American Red Cross is there to save lives, to provide food, clothing and shelter and to provide comfort. But this month, Red Cross volunteers are turning to the public for help.

March -- which has been proclaimed as National Red Cross Month by every president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt -- is the month of the organization's annual fund-raising campaing.

To celebrate Red Cross Month, the Beltrami County chapter will be hosting an open house 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday at its 310 Fourth St. N.W. office.

Volunteer Director George Stowe said in celebration of the awareness month, there will be a 10:30 a.m. ceremony to recognize the official re-chartering of the Bemidji chapter and to recognize the life-long contributions of various area volunteers. The open house will also mark the beginning of the month-long local telemarketing campaign to raise funds.

On display throughout the day will be World War I nurse's field and dress uniforms worn by May MacGregor Given, the founder of the Beltrami County Red Cross chapter. Given's daughter, community activist and Bemidji's City Councilor Rosemary Given Amble, will be awarded a plaque in honor of her mother's efforts, and 40-year Red Cross volunteer Lillian Wold will also be honored.

The Beltrami County chapter opened its office doors in February 1996 to assure continued service to northwest Minnesota, according to a Red Cross statement. A number of area chapters were not officially re-chartered by the federal government, but through the efforts of the local board and volunteers, Beltrami's charter was secured, Stowe said.

However, due to the failure of a number of counties to qualify for chartering, Beltrami's Red Cross now also provides services to Hubbard, Kittson, Lake of the Woods, Marshall, Pennington and Roseau counties. In addition, the chapter also assists in service delivery to neighboring chapters in Cass, Clearwater, Polk and Red Lake counties. It is the only full-service chapter in the northwest corner of the state, with next closest at Duluth, Fargo/Moorhead and St. Cloud.

The 1997 "Community Campaign" is the local chapter's fund-raising initiative to increase public awareness of the range of services provided by the Red Cross in Beltrami County, and to enlist local support for the non-profit organization through financial donations, volunteer Chris Dahl said.

He added that funds raised in Beltrami County remain in the county to provide services such as armed forces emergency services, health and safety education, lifeguard training and swimming education, blood-borne pathogen training, HIV/AIDS education, disaster aid and nursing home and hospital volunteer services.

Stowe said the Red Cross is an independent, non-profit organization that relies primarily on the generosity of individual, corporate and foundation contributions to fund its programs.

"This organization has been in the community for 80 years and does a tremendous amount," Stowe said. "But most people don't see what we do. If there's a disaster, the people who are going to be feeding, clothing, providing comfort or helping to asses damage ... that's going to be the Red Cross. If people are trained in CPR or have had swimming lessons, more than likely that was the Red Cross."

Stowe said since the official Beltrami County Red Cross office was opened a year ago, the amount of service the organization has provided has doubled. He added the increased costs are straining the organization.

"We're the original unfunded mandate," he said. "The government says, 'You will take care of disasters,' but they don't give us any money."