The City of St. Charles recently witnessed the devastation of an apartment fire that was televised throughout the St. Louis area. One woman and her pet lost their lives in this terrible disaster. More than a dozen people escaped, while firefighters rescued one man who was trapped behind a locked sliding glass door in an upstairs apartment.
With so many hearts centered on the Haiti earthquake, a little boy with his family and another family from an area Catholic School decided to direct their hearts towards a place even closer to home. They collected donations to give to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund to help those suffering from the St. Charles apartment fire.
The Gould family and the Rattini family are thankful for the Family Project for Catholic Schools week at the St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School. They said that this project encouraged them to reach out to people in need and raise much more money than they could have given on their own.
Volunteers from the St. Charles County American Red Cross were quickly on site during this disaster. They too felt the sadness of the devastating event. Our volunteers unselfishly dropped everything in their lives to care for those in the apartment complex. They worked from early in the morning until late in the day to serve every person affected. I personally know how hard they worked and how exhausted they were at the end of the day, I showed up to replenish supplies seeing smiles on their faces and witnessed them showing a loving respect to those in their care.
Thinking about that day brought to mind a great old song sung by Louis Armstrong “…and I think to myself, what a wonderful world”. Sometimes we think there’s a real lack of concern and respect in our world but there are still some wonderfully caring and giving people out there. We do have loving neighbors around us! Our volunteers are living proof of people in our community that care and give their lives to help their neighbors.
If you have a love like those I just mentioned and you would like to share it by being part of the American Red Cross, just let us know and we’ll welcome you with open arms.
Terri Violet is the Marketing and Communication Liaison Volunteer in the St. Charles County Service Center.