ODESSA, Texas — Meals on Wheels Odessa already provides senior members of the community with meals every week.
But they saw the need for smoke alarms amongst those that use their services, so they teamed up with the Red Cross to install some for free.
“Well, you know, the time just changed and that’s a great reminder twice a year to check the batteries of your smoke alarm," said Craig Stoker, Executive Director of Meals on Wheels Odessa. "It just kind of ticked in my brain that ‘hey, we can partner with the Red Cross to help out the clients of Meals on Wheels. Again, this is another opportunity to partner with another organization here locally to help those in need.”
But the Red Cross did more than just help provide smoke alarms.
They also provided valuable knowledge.
“The other thing we do is educate them on what to do," Shane Bell, Disaster Action Team Coordinator at the Red Cross, said. "You always want to have two ways to escape during a fire. Most people don’t think about think about that. You think, ‘I’m just going to go out the front door’. You may not be able get out through your front door, so you need to know how to get out other ways: bedroom window maybe or something like that or an alternate path because the fire may be blocking your exit.”
Recipients of the smoke alarms were grateful to all the volunteers that came out to help.
“I’m so happy, I’m so glad. This is awesome," said Amada Natividad, an Odessa resident. "I really need this, you know. We don’t know when anything can come, like a fire or whatever against us.”
A little over 200 smoke alarms were installed according to Stoker.