Red Cross volunteer Sador Gebremichael, center, waves hello to volunteer Yvonne Johnson's therapy dog, Sadie, while Amy Weir, also a volunteer, watches. The volunteers were available to answer questions from the community during the Red Cross Open Ho...

Fort Belvoir, Va. (April 3, 2014) - Did you know that the American Red Cross offers emergency preparedness, CPR and first aid classes? That it provides welcome bags to newcomers at the hospital? Or that it offers resiliency courses to help military Families cope with deployment?

Most people don't, which is why the American Red Cross on Fort Belvoir hosted an Open House March 27 at the Red Cross "House," in honor of Red Cross Month.

"What we want is for the whole community to know the Red Cross," said Keith Greene, disaster chairman for the ARC on Fort Belvoir.

"We want everyone to be aware of all of the Red Cross services -- and they're pretty extensive," he added. "Red Cross provides well over half of all of the blood in the United States and then we have our health and safety services … CPR, first aid training, swim lessons, babysitting, pet first aid -- all things that are there to help the community prepare for whatever might occur."

About 70 community members attended the open house, browsing tables for information, chatting with volunteers and even visiting with Sadie, a Red Cross therapy dog, at the event. They also toured the historic Red Cross "House," which was built in 1942.

"I just got here, but I'm an Army Wounded Warrior advocate and came to see if I could gather some information to pass along to my Soldiers," said Maryann Mandia, AW2 advocate for the North Region.

"I think these programs are so versatile and suitable for anyone in any number of situations, whether it's an emergency or not," she added. "Perhaps they know someone experiencing an emergency that they can help because they have the information."

Local and regional Red Cross staff attended the event, said Jason Marshall, station manager for the American Red Cross, Service to the Armed Forces on Fort Belvoir.

"The goal was to highlight all the services the Red Cross has to offer both on and off the installation: emergency messages, disaster classes, health and safety classes, wounded warrior battalion support, volunteer programs, and resiliency classes, such as our Reconnection Workshop classes and Coping with Deployment classes," he said.

The Red Cross also has a Warrior Outreach Service, which provides welcome bags to newcomers at the hospital, and gives baby bags to enlisted Families (E-5 and below) when they have a baby on post, said Fawn Bennett, ARC Warrior Outreach chair.

The Open House helped Red Cross workers like Bennett get the word out about programs that go beyond the Red Cross' blood collection service.

"A lot of people still have it blocked off for blood, but there's so much more," she said.

For more information, visit www.redcross.org, call the Fort Belvoir ARC Main Office at (703) 805-2057, or Fort Belvoir Community Hospital Office at (571) 231-4160.