Senior Citizens, Safe at Home

In Union County, there is an active and significant Senior Citizen population.  Many seniors live in community living

situations like Heritage House in down town Lewisburg or Kelly Apartments just outside the borough.  Their needs

for safety and preparedness are specific and present some challenges.  In an effort to meet these needs, the Union

County Chapter of the American Red Cross, in partnership with the Union Snyder Area Agency on Aging

has developed a program to help address the issue of sheltering-in-place.  This is the phrase we use to discuss the

circumstance that requires residents to stay indoors during an emergency, such as a power failure, a severe storm or

even an airborne attack of some kind.  Waiting for help to arrive, persons needs to feel empowered to take care of

themselves, their neighbors and their pets. In educating this special population we discovered a very willing group of

people who will take good precautions and follow instructions but lack the resources to create disaster preparedness

kits that would ultimately protect them in such a situation.  Now, simply by attending a series of short meetings, we 

can create custom made preparedness kits for seniors to keep in their homes and utilize during an emergncy.  Following

the distribution of the kits we will begin to present training for seniors in CPR, First Aid.  Called "CPR and First Aid For

Everyone", this course does not certify participants nor does it require a test.  It is designed to empower everyone at

any skill level to feel confident in the event an injury occurs.

Special funding for this program was donated by grants from the Union County and Apple Foundations respectively.  

Kappa Kappa Gamma, a sorority from Bucknell University has joined the effort and also raised a significant financial

contribution to assist in the purchase of the kits.  Students will also be involved in putting the kits together with the

seniors and helping to assure that each kit contains items that are tailored specifically to the individual for whom it is

being created.

                                 Claire Munly from Bucknell presents a check to Annie for $1,000! 

If you have a neighbor, a loved one or know of a senior citizen who should have a disaster preparedness kit but

cannot afford one, please contact us unionarcdisaster@dejazzd.com

for possible inclusion in this program.  We will make home visits or group presentations upon request.  Initial meetings 

were held at Devitt House in Lewisburg, Kelly Apartments and Buffalo Valley Lutheran Village in the Commons building.

we have also visited Heritage House on Second Street in Lewisburg. Check this space for more locations and times coming soon as we expand into the western end of the county. We will be visiting Mifflin Place and Meadow View apartments in

Mifflinburg as well as all the Senior Citizen Community centers in Union County.  

Our first recipients who wish to remain somewhat anonymous, are pictured after we delivered Safe At Home kits to their place of residence. 

We spent an enjoyable hour talking about ways to stay safe at home and received an ear full of great advice!

On April 14th members of Kappa Kappa Gamma came to pack the first 100 kits into easy to store and carry bags, donated by Weis Markets (thank you). These kits contain emergency food, water, a radio with built-in flashlight and siren, a thermal blanket, light stick, first aid kit and 2.5 gallon water carrier.  In addition, there is a supply of informational material and a template for personalized emergency information. Our seniors will meet again at their places of residence or here at the chapter to take the CPR and First Aid for everyone class.  Here, they will learn the basics of first aid and the compression only CPR technique. 

Check this spot for dates and times, all seniors are welcome to join us.  Next Date: Monday, August 10th at the Senior center in downtown Lewisburg at 5:30 pm. Seniors will receive their free kits and take the CPR and First Aid training.

                 Kappa Kappa ladies packed the bags in record time, thanks ladies!