ARMENIAN CENTER DONATES BED SHEETS
By Zain Shauk
Glendale News Press
Nov 23 2009
CA
Crescenta Valley group gives items to the Red Cross for use in future
evacuations.
SOUTH GLENDALE — The Armenian Community Center of Crescenta Valley
followed through on a Station fire-inspired pledge Saturday when
it donated more than 300 bed sheets to the American Red Cross
Glendale-Crescenta Valley chapter for use at future emergency shelters.
The contribution may have been late, but it will help create
a stockpile for something relief officials realized was necessary
during fire seasons, said Ron Farina, chief executive of the chapter.
That was evident when Station fire evacuees filed into an emergency
shelter at Crescenta Valley High School in August, with many finding
that its cots and wool blankets weren’t the most comfortable escape
from triple-digit temperatures outdoors, Farina said.
"We got some people that were having a hard time sleeping," he said.
The organization previously didn’t have a stockpile of lighter bedding
and, despite an air-conditioning system in the school’s cafeteria,
visitors were uncomfortable, he said.
So when the Armenian Community Center offered to collect donations
for evacuees, Red Cross officials, who had already collected enough
food and water, asked for sheets that could be used for relief efforts
during periods of high heat, Farina said.
The organization delivered more than 40 sheets while the shelter was
still running, but continued its collection efforts in order to help
contribute to a Red Cross stockpile Saturday, said Mike Kalachian,
a member of the board of directors of the Armenian Community Center.
"We thought Thanksgiving was a perfect opportunity to come and donate
these," Kalachian said.
The Red Cross has replenished most of its resources used during
Station fire relief efforts, Farina said.
But bed sheets were not previously an emphasis for the organization,
he said.
Now it expects to have enough of the lighter bedding for future
emergency shelters, he said.
"It just adds a little comfort for [evacuees]," he said.
Chris Havatian, chairman of the Armenian Community Center, hoped the
extended collection drive would ensure that residents didn’t forget
about the contributions that emergency responders and volunteers made
to help evacuees, he said.
"This drive was to create awareness and make people realize that
these brave [firefighters] and the Red Cross were here to help them,"
he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
