Disaster Services

The American Red Cross is not a government agency, however in 1905 the Red Cross was charted by Congress to "carry on a system of national and international relief in time of peace and apply the same mitigating the sufferings caused by pestilence, famine, fire, floods, other great national calamities, and to measures for preventing the same." The Fulton county Chapter has a team of approximately 30 trained volunteers under the leadership of the disaster chairperson, George Sessen.

For further information, please contact the
Fulton County Disaster Chairperson:
William Chester 419-822-9714 Cell 419-583-9563
Chris Kurkum 419-349-7809
Chapter Office: 419-335-4636

While fire is the most frequent calamity that the chapter deals with, the Red Cross also responds to explosions, storms, chemical spills, transportation accidents, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes and civil disturbances.

Immediately following a major disaster, Red Cross Mass Care provides emergency food and shelter.

When immediate needs are met, Emergency Assistance begins to address the urgent needs for groceries, clothing, temporary housing, medicine and emergency home repairs to enable victims to resume independent living.

In single family disasters, the chapter will provide emergency housing in local motels, and provide food and clothing when the need is verified by disaster team members.

In addition to providing relief after a disaster occurs, the Red Cross works to save lives and reduce property damage by education the public on preparedness and working with community officials to anticipate needs and coordinate relief efforts.

Contacting Family Members

List yourself as Safe and Well

If you have been affected by a disaster, this website provides a way for you to register yourself as "safe and well." From a list of standard messages, you can select those that you want to communicate to your family members, letting them know of your well-being.
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The Fulton County Chapter Disaster Response received the call requesting their response at approximately 3:15 a.m. and the first responders arrived on scene by 3:45 a.m. Fourteen members of the Team spent the rest of the day feeding the firefighters from 29 fire departments and other responders through the course of the day and into the evening. The service center was closed at 9:30 p.m. The Fulton County Chapter would like to thank all of the local businesses who really pitched in to help them –their generosity enabled us to perform our job quickly and efficiently. Special thanks go to John Weber for providing all of the chicken, mashed potatoes, etc. throughout the day, The manager from Arby’s for donating roast beef and other supplies, Sterlings for allowing us to use their building as a service center, Wal- Mart for all of the supplies, snacks, water, etc., Chief for all of the bread, lunch meat, Sky Bank for water, Tanos. Marcos, Shehorn’s and Pizza Hut for all of the pizzas they donated, The First Church of God for the use of their building In the early hours until our service center could be set up –and thank you to everyone who stopped with donations and offers of help throughout the day. And last but not least –thank you to all of the firefighters, police departments and other responders for all of their hard work – it was an honor to serve you!

ALL DISASTER SERVICES ARE SERVED FREE OF CHARGE.

“ All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those in need. On those rare occasions when donations exceed Red Cross expenses for a specific disaster, contributions are used to prepare for and serve victims of other disasters. Call 1-800-HELP NOW or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross Chapter (Fulton County Chapter, P.O. Box 156, Wauseon, OH 43567) or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.”

Online Disaster Preparedness Materials (multilingual materials from the national Red Cross web site)

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