Letter from East Tennessee Executive Director, Sharon Hudson - June 2018

The American Red Cross of East Tennessee recently installed 726 smoke alarms and reached 1,100 people about home fire safety during the Sound the Alarm home fire safety and smoke alarm installation event on April 28^th in Beaumont, Park City, and Park Ridge neighborhoods.  In early May, we canvassed three mobile home parks in Knoxville and installed 241 more alarms to surpass our 1,000 alarms for our Sound the Alarm, Save a Life campaign goal.

 A special thank you to all Red Cross volunteers and local partners that canvassed neighborhoods, installed free smoke alarms, and helped families create escape plans. The sponsors and participants included Chilhowee Hills Baptist Church, City of Knoxville Fire Department, Astra Zeneca, CarMax, Enrichment Federal Credit Union, Faith Promise Church, Krispy Kreme, McKee Foods, Papa Johns, State Farm, Hot104.5 Mean Jean Community Crew and Joey Tack, University of Tennessee Honors Students, Vestal Baptist Church, WBIR, WATE, WVLT and over 100 volunteers. 

The Red Cross responds to nearly 64,000 disasters a year, the majority of which are home fires. Working smoke alarms in a home cut the risk of death by half, and having an escape plan further improves the odds of survival. The Red Cross wants to end these tragedies and save lives, the reason why the organization launched the Home Fire Campaign in 2014.

To learn more about the Home Fire Campaign, visit redcross.org. Please help us Sound the Alarm by volunteering to install smoke alarms, making a financial contribution, or taking steps to protect your own family from home fires.