Freeport News Reporter
Men's clothing and shoes are among the biggest demands from the public at The Bahamas Red Cross Society Grand Bahama Centre, according to administrator Mary Culmer.
"A lot of men seem to always need clothing. Shoes are in demand for men. That happens to be a demand constantly," she said.
Culmer noted that recently there has been a steady growth in the donations being given to the Red Cross, top among those items include clothing and shoes.
"Clothes and shoes are the type of things that are consistently donated and from time-to-time we have persons who would now choose the Red Cross as an area to patronize for their event," she supplied
Culmer noted that there are also parents that come in from time-to-time looking for clothing for their children, but that number is not so large.
She added that the Freeport location also supplies clothes to the centre in Eight Mile Rock by the bulk.
Culmer noted that her attention for the past couple of months has been focused on getting the 'Meals on Wheels' Program up and running again.
Now that it is operating smoothly, she added that the next project on her agenda is to increase membership with the organization so that she can form committees to develop various fund-raising projects and preparing for disasters.
"We are preparing now for the 2011 year," she said. "Fund-raisers and disaster response are the two areas that we also want to look at."
Culmer also noted that in terms of volunteership the numbers have been increasing slowly. She added that she now has five persons that come in on a regular basis to assist with preparing meals for the 'Meals on Wheels' Program.
"As the 'Meals on Wheels' expands I'd like to see more volunteerism on the delivery of the meals," she said.
Culmer added that it would lessen the burden on the one vehicle the organization currently has.
More volunteers, she said, will be able to split up and target different communities.
She added that in establishing the 'Meals on Wheels' program, Pinder's Point has been a difficult area to assess in terms of the persons who need to be on the program.
Culmer said that the Red Cross has been diligently seeking candidates who meet the requirements for the 'Meals on Wheels' Program.
She noted that if persons call in she would willingly come out to perform an assessment but they must qualify.
Culmer noted that they must be in need of a mid-day meal Monday through Friday, they must be 60 years and over and incapacitated and have no one at home that can prepare a meal.
For other persons that do not qualify, she noted that the centre can possibly provide care packages.
Culmer also provided that while donations to the centre are presently enough to sustain the 'Meals on Wheels' program, she is hopeful that the donations will increase to support the program as it continues to expand.
"The spurts of donations we have had demonstrates to me that there is an increased and a heightened awareness in the community about the needs of the Red Cross," she supplied.
Culmer also noted that the centre has recently certified three first aid, CPR-AED instructors to conduct classes at the centre.
She said that persons who are interested in obtaining certification can contact the centre as it has a training room where the classes will be conducted.
