John Hitchens, Greater Chattanooga Area Red Cross, Emergency Services director; Mary Carlson, Chattanooga Association of Realtors and Elaine Erwin, Greater Chattanooga Area Red Cross Disaster Services volunteer coordinator. Click to enlarge.
For the past several years, The Chattanooga Association of Realtors, in partnership with the local Chapter of the American Red Cross and the Chattanooga Fire Department has purchased smoke detectors and batteries, for families in need.
Installation is performed by the Chattanooga Fire Department, and a different community is selected as the recipient each year.
This year the Highway 58 area has been selected, and the Chattanooga Realtors, the local Red Cross chapter and the Fire Department, will meet on Saturday, at 8:30 a.m. at the Washington Hills Recreation Center to coordinate the teams’ distribution within the community.
Area homeowners will be notified several days in advance of the group’s effort, knocking on their doors to distribute the smoke alarms. Each year the project is scheduled to be held in conjunction with the time change.
This is a critically needed service in the community because some homeowners are unable to climb a step ladder to even change the batteries on the smoke alarm while others simply cannot afford to purchase one, officials said. Many families with small children have been assisted in the past with the smoke alarms and the fire fighters install them on the spot.
Sponsorship of this event is through a $3,000 donation from the Community Outreach Committee of the Chattanooga Association of Realtors.