Red Cross Honors Volunteers
Red Cross volunteer Steve Luedders, left, shakes hands with board member Bill McGill after receiving the Dan Kivel Blackbird award at Wednesday evening's awards ceremony at Washtenaw Community College. (Photo by Rebecca Friedman.)
When the Washtenaw County chapter of the American Red Cross issued a press release on Thursday stating that its volunteers had responded to a 2 a.m. house fire that morning in Saline, we took special note – just hours before, the chapter had feted volunteers at an annual meeting that The Chronicle attended, where they talked about just this kind of work.
About 150 people came to the event, which for the first time combined the nonprofit’s awards ceremony with its annual membership meeting – usually the two events are held separately. Though the evening focused on recognizing local Red Cross volunteers, leaders of the organization also spoke of the challenges they face to provide services in the current economy. [Full Story]