
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 15, 1994                   TAG: 9403150211
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-8   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

TAKE NOTE

March is American Red Cross Month. The organization was founded in 1863 as a result of Henry Dunant's "A Memory of Solferino." Dunant wrote a vivid description of a northern Italian battlefield where 40,000 soldiers were killed or wounded and left without help.

After serving as a nurse during the Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War in Europe, Clara Barton founded the American Association of the Red Cross in 1881.

Today, the American Red Cross has 1.2 million volunteers and provides assistance at more than 40,000 disasters each year. Although not a government agency, the organization is chartered by Congress to provide special services to members of the U.S. Army Forces and disaster victims.

On March 23, the Montgomery County chapter of the American Red Cross will hold a special reception for volunteers at 7 p.m. at Luther Memorial Lutheran Church, Toms Creek and Prices Fork roads. All volunteers will be recognized and a special Volunteer of the Year award will be presented.

The local chapter will also sponsor a health and safety fair at the New River Valley Mall on March 26 and 27. Red Cross volunteers will check blood pressure and demonstrate first aid and CPR techniques.

by CNB