BELLEFONTE — Whether responding to house fires, natural disasters or medical emergencies, the American Red Cross serves as a lifeline for Centre County residents by providing free emergency assistance to those in need.

At their meeting Tuesday, county commissioners recognized the nonprofit organization’s vital role in supporting the community by proclaiming March 2025 as Red Cross Month in Centre County. They were joined by representatives from the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Red Cross, who attended the meeting to highlight their impact and encourage the public to utilize their services.

“We are delighted to be here to represent the good work that the Red Cross does, and we genuinely appreciate the support that we receive throughout Centre County and particularly from the commissioners,” said Gary Langsdale, of Spring Mills, an active volunteer and board member of the organization’s Central Pennsylvania Chapter.

According to the Red Cross, every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs a blood transfusion, an essential service that helps patients survive surgeries, cancer treatments, chronic illnesses and traumatic injuries.

Since July 1, 2024, the Red Cross has collected 4,407 units of blood in Centre County, with each of those donations capable of saving multiple lives, Langsdale reported to the commissioners.

“A lot of that came through Penn State’s help and assistance from the students, faculty and staff,” he said.

But their work extends far beyond blood drives.

Over the past year, the chapter has responded to six large-scale disasters, as well as numerous house fires and smaller incidents, with the help of the 123 county residents who have volunteered with the organization, according to Langsdale.

“Over 90 percent of our work is done by volunteers,” explained Community Disaster Program Manager at the American Red Cross Melinda Rosario. Many of whom live in the communities they serve.

The Red Cross has also helped 106 families in Centre County make their homes safer through its Home Fire Campaign, which aims to reduce the nation’s most common disaster — residential fires. The program provides homeowners with free smoke detectors, installed at no charge.

“If people want smoke detectors installed in their houses, I am proud to be one of the people who goes out with a drill and a smoke detector and installs them in people’s houses — as many as they need,” Langsdale said.

He added that in the past year, the organization has provided support to 36 armed service members and their families, in addition to their other work.

Commissioner Amber Concepcion also mentioned that the Red Cross offers a variety of certification courses to the community, including CPR, first aid, babysitting, lifeguard and AED training. They can also provide public health certifications, such as Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) training. For groups as small as eight, the Red Cross offers private classes for certain certifications. More information is available at www.redcross.org.

Rosario, the organization’s community disaster program manager, began working with the area’s Red Cross in July of last year.

“We are really excited to have expanded our territory. This area has always been represented by the Red Cross, but we redrew our imaginary borders so we have a slightly different team serving you all now,” said Rosario.

“That does not change our services at all,” she clarified. “Regardless of where we are physically based, we serve every community, every day.”

To better serve the community, Rosario asked Centre County’s government to assist in connecting the Red Cross with the county’s fire departments, with whom they’ve struggled to make contact.

“We need to know them because that’s where we are getting our direct referrals from. We need them to call us and to be asking the residents the correct questions,” she explained.

Many people do not realize they can benefit from the Red Cross’s services, as the assistance they offer is wide-ranging. It can include help finding temporary shelter, replacing medications lost in a disaster, as well as providing mental health and spiritual care services. The organization also connects people with additional services that can better meet their specific needs.

Rosario also urged local school districts and other organizations to take advantage of the Red Cross’s completely free educational programs that are available year round.

“Almost every home fire is preventable if you have the right education,” Rosario said.

She emphasized that the Red Cross is always looking for ways to serve and for people to help, making it crucial to connect with the right people.

“We want to serve the community. We want folks to call us,” said Rosaio. “If you hear of community members in need, please have them call 1-800-RED-CROSS.”

“A lot of times in our more rural counties, folks are very resilient. They don’t necessarily want help,” she explained, but reiterated, “our help is free every single day and we want to be able to provide that help to folks. There is no ask in return,”

She stressed the importance of people knowing there is no obligation when the Red Cross assists them, and that there are few disasters too small.

“It doesn’t have to be a major disaster,” Rosario said. “If they have a fire in their home, we want to meet with them that day so we can start them on the road to recovery.” She noted that the Red Cross stays by victims’ sides until they are back on their feet.

“90 percent of the funds we receive go directly into the hands of clients,” said Rosario. “It truly is a gift and we want to get it into the right hands.”