GAMBIER — Around the world, the annual Red Cross and Red Crescent Day is being celebrated today, on the birthday of Henry Dunant, founder of the Red Cross Movement. The “Angel of the Battlefield,” Clara Barton, founded the American Red Cross in 1881 out of her experiences of assisting on Civil War battlefields. Dunant helped create the Geneva Conventions and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Muslim countries use the red crescent symbol.
More than 95 million volunteers carry out the work of 181 national Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in most countries around the world, serving an average of 230 million people each year.
As the commemorative day approached, county residents worked to designate a new disaster shelter for the American Red Cross of Knox County. The College Township Fire Station fit the bill, as it meets the square footage requirements of the Red Cross and is equipped with kitchen, showers, generator and restrooms and can temporarily house a large number of displaced people seeking shelter after a disaster. It’s also centrally located in the middle of Gambier. With five two-vehicle bays in the building, a large number of cots and tables can be set up once the fire trucks are parked outside.
“It’s important for people to have somewhere to go in case of a disaster,” said Dee Hoeflich, ARC of Knox County’s Emergency Services Coordinator.
“This is what we call pre-placement,” added Dan Werner, executive director of ARC of Knox County. “This is full-facility planning, with everything in place in case of disaster. With hurricanes, you have four to five day’s notice. With tornadoes, you get maybe three or four minutes’ notice. We want people to take shelter where they are, and then come here to the fire station after it has passed.”
“People who have been here in Gambier a while know they can come here,” said Jim Kousoulas, the fire station’s administrative officer, “but we wanted everyone to know and we worked with the Red Cross to make it available.”
Kousoulas and College Township Fire Chief Bill Smith worked with Hoeflich and Werner to complete the paperwork for the designation.
The Kenyon College Athletic Center in Gambier is also a designated Red Cross disaster shelter.
