Local Red Cross Chapters Honor Community Heroes

Danville, PA - The Danville Chapter of the American Red Cross, along with the Greater Berwick and Bloomsburg Chapters, held their 3rd Annual Heroes Award Breakfast to honor local community heroes on Friday, May 20, 2011 from 8 am - 9:30 am at Monty's on the upper campus of Bloomsburg University.

Throughout Montour & Columbia County people perform extraordinary life saving acts every day. Each May the Danville, Bloomsburg, and Greater Berwick Chapters of the American Red Cross honors these local heroes at a breakfast and award ceremony. Nominations are called for at the beginning of each New Year for heroic acts performed in the previous year. Heroes can be individuals or groups, and must have saved or assisted in saving a life by preventing or intervening in a crisis situation or by giving the victims aid they needed, or would have needed, to survive. The nominee may be professionally trained in life-saving skills or a Good Samaritan. They do not have to be Red Cross volunteers or have to have Red Cross training.

This year's award winners from Danville are in the category of Fire Safety and include Chuck Eyer, Josh Poticher, Leslie Young, Ryan Golla, and Tim Berkey who played huge roles in evacuating Beaver Place Apartments and extinguishing a fire on July 4, 2010 during a holiday disaster that threatened the lives of residents.

Other awardees from Montour and Columbia County include, Jimmy Hill - Law Enforcement; Chris Sigler and Jamie Slusser - Adult Good Samaritan; Charles Hanks, Gerald Lacey, and David Setzer - Good Samaritan Workplace; Russel Force - Youth Good Samaritan; and Scott Fought - Military.

     

Donations are also being accepted in honor of the awardees. Proceeds from the breakfast will benefit programs and services of the local Red Cross Chapters in Montour and Columbia Counties.

For more information on the Heroes Breakfast or to inquire about how to nominate a Hero for the 2012 event for heroic acts performed in 2011, please contact the Danville Red Cross at 275-1441, Greater Berwick Red Cross at 570-752-7221, or the Bloomsburg Red Cross at 570-784-1395.