Letter from Mid-West Tennessee Executive Director, David Hicks - April 2018

Hello Mid-West TN team!! Welcome to April, which is recognized as American Red Cross Volunteer Appreciation Month! Speaking of which, I want to give a very special thanks to all the volunteers who helped Heather and I schedule Red Cross presentations in a few of our counties during the month of March. We enjoyed sharing the mission and services of the American Red Cross with civic clubs, churches, schools and government agencies- all in the name of celebrating March as the national American Red Cross month. Let’s continue to build on the momentum of these community efforts in the upcoming summer months!

As many of you are already aware, we’ve officially scheduled our Sound the Alarm, Save a Life national smoke alarm installation event on Saturday, April 21^st in McNairy Co. We’ll be doing installations in both Selmer and Adamsville in our effort to install 400 smoke alarms! We hope that many of you can carve out time that day to join us for a road trip to save lives. Simply go to the following link to officially register for the event: www.redcross.org/STAjackson We need ALL the help we can get!

Thanks again to all the chapter volunteers who participated in the Hardin County Home Fire Campaign on Saturday, March 24^th in the Burnt Church community outside Savannah. Heather and I appreciated all the volunteers who drove down from Jackson to serve alongside Hardin Co. fireman, led by Fire Chief Melvin Martin. The final tally of smoke alarms installed was 135! We were also blessed to participate in a special recognition time with Tim Franks. He honored the local fireman who gave “above and beyond” in their efforts to save Tim’s 4 family members who perished in their Hardin Co. house fire. The firemen were presented with special recognition American Red Cross medals and gave a very heartfelt thanks for the gesture.  

I want to continue to highlight one of our upcoming events that has proven to be a MAJOR showcase for our chapter (and the amazing work that all of you do on behalf of your respective counties)! We’ll be hosting our annual Heroes Luncheon fundraiser event on Thursday, May 29^th at the Carl Grant Center on the campus of Union University. Our special guest (and Humanitarian of the Year Honoree) will be country music star, Darryl Worley! He’ll be sharing a song as part of his recognition time. We’re also in the process of securing sponsorships and funding for the event. Last year was hugely successful and we are hoping for more of the same this year.

Take care and I hope each of you has an enjoyable April!