Red Cross Month highlights lifesaving efforts of volunteers in Garfield County and across the nation
Courtesy/ American Red Cross
Government officials across the country, from county commissioners to the President of the United States, know what March means: it’s time to pick up the pen and sign a proclamation declaring it American Red Cross Month.
The Garfield Board of County Commissioners, continuing the tradition that began with President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1943, honored the Red Cross on Monday.
“The Red Cross is proud to be a part of this community,” Jacque Whitsitt, who is on the board of directors for the American Red Cross of Western Colorado, told commissioners on Monday. “We thank you again for the opportunity to recognize and celebrate our amazing local volunteers who turn compassion into action every day.”
The American Red Cross prepares communities for potential emergencies and assists those in crisis through services that include disaster relief efforts, blood donations, international aid and health and safety courses.
In the Roaring Fork Valley, 55 volunteers have donated thousands of hours to the American Red Cross over the last year, according to Whitsitt. Volunteers responded to 11 home fires, assisted 13 families and installed 71 smoke alarms in 46 households. Around 28 volunteers in Garfield County have provided over 300 hours of service in 2025 alone, said Christie Caster, executive director of the American Red Cross of Western Colorado.
“One of our biggest accomplishments is we do have quite a few volunteers from around the chapters that do deploy locally, but also around the country to help assist in disaster relief,” Caster said. “In addition, we’ve increased our volunteers in the last year… by about 50 (people), which is amazing. The amount of support that Western Coloradans really want to give to their communities is pretty incredible.”
Jill Pidcock, a Glenwood Springs resident and co-chair of the West Mountain Regional Community Organizations Active in Disasters (COAD), has volunteered for the Red Cross through community outreach and “Sound the Alarm” events.
“Sound the Alarm” events are a collaborative effort between Red Cross volunteers and local fire departments that involves installing free smoke alarms, creating escape plans and sharing fire safety information. Pidcock helped install smoke alarms in mobile home communities, where many homes may lack this essential safety measure
“I feel like it not only educates families and individuals about the importance of having the smoke detector in their homes, but it also protects the entire (community),” Pidcock said. “That makes me feel good that I’m part of helping to educate and helping to provide something that’s so simple that could save lives.”
Over the last three years, the Red Cross has also provided mass care and shelter training for community members interested in joining the West Mountain Regional COAD. Around 100 people in the valley are now trained to work in a Red Cross shelter before, during and after a disaster event.
“That education ahead of time is so important — as I said, preplanning and not having to be reactive in that situation, I think that’s been invaluable,” Pidcock said. “So it’s not just saying, ‘Hey, the Red Cross is here if you need us.’ It’s saying, ‘The Red Cross is here to help train you, what’s important for you to know in your home should something happen?'”
“I feel like that education in the community empowers people to be able to rescue themselves in an emergency situation,” she added.
For more information about volunteer opportunities with the American Red Cross of Colorado, visit redcross.org/local/colorado/volunteer.html.
