Last week, the American Red Cross announced a reorganization that will bring the Southwest Colorado Chapter under the umbrella of the Western Colorado Chapter in Grand Junction.
Eric Myers will serve as executive director of the new amalgamation, which follows a national Red Cross initiative to organize chapters to cover populations of about 340,000. The local office will remain open and will provide the services it already does but will not have paid staff.
Myers has been with the Red Cross for five years, all at the Western Colorado Chapter. He began as the education program manager but within six months had risen to the post of executive director.
What is your priority for the Southwest Colorado region?
Because of the large distances on the Western Slope, we need to develop and train volunteer leaders. I’m excited to bring in passionate and talented volunteers who want to help their community. But it’s important to volunteer now because when smoke’s in the air is not when someone should get involved. They need to be trained and ready to deploy to deliver Red Cross services the way we’re chartered to do.
What do you think people need to know about the Red Cross?
A lot of people don’t know that we’re waiting in the middle of the night during a single-family house fire. They just think we respond to big disasters, like Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy. But the Red Cross responds to 65,000 house fires across the country every year, and, in Colorado, it’s nearly one a day. Even if people are insured and have resources, they need somebody to say, “You can get through this.”
The Red Cross works on emergency preparedness as well as emergency response, right?
Yes, we want to make sure people come to the Red Cross to learn how to be better prepared. What do we have? Are we ready to go? If I were told to shelter in place in my house, could I do that without storming the store for bread and milk? If I had a house fire, could I get me and my family out of the house in two minutes with what we need?
What’s your background?
I grew up in Geary, Nebraska, where my dad was a photojournalist for 35 years. I majored in history and education at the University of Wyoming and worked as a wildland firefighter for the Forest Service before I decided I needed a way to support my family (wife, Jenifer, and son, Colin, 7). Before going to work for the Red Cross, I was the education coordinator for Mesa County Partners, which is modeled after Big Brothers Big Sisters, but with eight focuses. I worked with the Youth Conservation Corps.
abutler@durangoherald.com
