Miami, FL (May 24, 2010) — South Florida has had a remarkable stroke of luck for the past few years, dodging direct strikes from powerful and destructive hurricanes.

Now, with hurricane season quickly approaching, do you remember how to prepare or how to make sure your community is safe?

Some of us will go through the motions: head to the store, buy water, canned food, and a few batteries. Some of us will do nothing.

But many of us will choose to become heroes for the hundreds who could be left homeless or without electricity if a storm heads for South Florida. They will become American Red Cross volunteers.

“Volunteers are an indispensible part of the Red Cross,” says Sam Tidwell, CEO of the American Red Cross South Florida Region serving Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. “They don’t just serve food to people in shelters, they conduct vital damage assessments after the storm and they provide a great deal of psychological support to our neighbors who are affected by disaster. Volunteers are truly what makes the Red Cross a strong organization.”

From the 1926 hurricane that flattened Miami to the unpredictable path of 2005’s Hurricane Wilma, the American Red Cross and its thousands of volunteers have always met the challenge of helping our water-logged and weather-ravaged communities prepare for and recover from these powerful natural disasters.

At the American Red Cross, highly trained volunteers run dozens of shelters, caring and comforting people who are looking for a safe place to get away from the torrential rains and violent winds. This is a calling that’s also proven important to companies such as W.W. Grainger, Inc. and Credit Suisse that mobilize their employees as Red Cross volunteers under the Ready When the Time Comes initiative of the Red Cross. Last year, Miami-based Ryder System, Inc. also partnered with the Red Cross, asking its employees to volunteer and be Red Cross Ready for the community.

Don’t procrastinate. Don’t wait for a disaster to strike to decide you want to volunteer. Sign up today by calling 954-797-3800 in Broward County, 305-644-1200 in Miami-Dade County, and 305-296-4033 in Monroe County, or visit our volunteer section online.

“Now is the best time to become a volunteer, before any storm has South Florida in its sights,” said Luis Avila, Regional Director of Emergency Services at the American Red Cross South Florida Region. “It takes a little time to get someone fully trained – time that can be best spent helping our community when we need it most.”

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