Sharon Ledbetter

If you are an RN or LPN and are available for a two to three week assignment, please call Sharon Ledbetter, Director of Emergency Services at 479-442-4291.
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Sharon Ledbetter , Director of Emergency Services for the Northwest Arkansas Chapter will also be present.
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Sharon Ledbetter , Director of Emergency Services for the Northwest Arkansas Chapter will also be present.

"Preparing for a home fire doesn't require a lot of expensive equipment or training, and October is Fire Safety Month so it is a great time for families to plan for a potential fire," said Red Cross Emergency Services Director, Sharon Ledbetter.

Sharon Ledbetter, director of emergency services for the Northwest Arkansas Red Cross, said the event changed disaster relief within the organization.

" Both human and material resources increased dramatically, " she said." Financial donations increased dramatically as well."

Once immediate emergency needs are met, Ledbetter said the response phase leads into the recovery phase.

" We move victims into the recovery phase and help them look for homes, additional food, clothing and jobs, " she said.

The organization also learned from its mistakes after the hurricane.

Ledbetter said the Red Cross is working on streamlining services and engaging technology to prevent fraud.

" We've streamlined into delivering quicker services more efficiently, " she said." That's something that has drastically increased our abilities to serve many more people."

In a disaster event, Ledbetter said, there are always people misusing the organization's services.With technology, she said, the organization can ensure that the money is not being misused.

Ledbetter said the northwest Arkansas chapter is continuing to work with the community to help hurricane evacuees find jobs and get settled.

The chapter recently partnered with the Arkansas Work Force to hold a job fair at the Jones Center for Families in Springdale and will contribute to an anniversary dinner and prayer at the Central United Methodist Church.

" We couldn't do anything without our community partners, " Ledbetter said." All of the nonprofits in northwest Arkansas have contributed to the evacuees."

Speakers for this year's academy will be Sharon Ledbetter of the Northwest Chapter of the American Red Cross, Deputy U. S. Attorney Bob Balfe, Jerry Snow of Wal-Mart Stores Fraud Division, Capt. Ken Farmer of the Bella Vista division of the BCSO and Benton County Sheriff Keith Ferguson.

Sharon Ledbetter, the director of emergency services for the Northwest Arkansas Red Cross chapter, opened the shelter at the Harvey Jones Community Health Center, 610 E. Emma Ave., about 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Jomeca Hawkins said she and 22 friends and family members left New Orleans' Ninth Ward on Sunday.Hawkins works at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in New Orleans.She called the hotel's parent company, Marriott International Inc., looking for a room in Memphis.They sent her to the Fairfield Inn in Springdale, the closest Marriott hotel with available rooms.

She said the group had camped out in a handful of rooms Monday and Tuesday, watching hurricane coverage on television."It's just so many family members we left behind," she said."We just decided we weren't going to look at it anymore.Everything is underwater."

With no way of knowing how long it will be before they can go home, Hawkins called the Red Cross for help.

Springdale-based Tyson Foods Inc. donated food for the shelter, and Ledbetter said the Jones Center for Families is planning activities for the children at the shelter.

Sharon Ledbetter, Director of Emergency Services, keeps a watchful eye on Rita`s projected path."We`re trying to determine where the eye of the hurricane is going to hit before we as a service area begin moving resources in human and material," said Ledbetter.But with two powerful storms hitting less than a month apart, some might think the Red Cross is overwhelmed."We`re ready to respond, we maybe weary but we`ll continue on this it`s in our hearts, this is what we do," added Ledbetter.

Sharon Ledbetter, director of Emergency Services for the Northwest Arkansas Chapter of the American Red Cross and Disaster Relief Operation director, said the Church of Christ in downtown Morrilton was initially supposed to be a shelter. Instead, the Red Cross is using the River Valley Chapter as a headquarters to help provide shelter and food.She noted Russellville was the most centrally located area of all the counties. "The Red Cross focuses on food, clothing and shelter," Ledbetter said.
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Ledbetter said the Church of Christ opened as a shelter at 5 p.m. Monday and closed Wednesday morning. "We've served over 600 meals (at the shelter)," Ledbetter said."That's a lot of meals since Monday at 6 o'clock.It still is a fixed-feeding site so people can go there and get meals." Ledbetter said several homes were destroyed from Sunday's storm, but she did not know the exact number. Volunteers and Red Cross representatives were pleased with the way people have been helping the storm victims.
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Ledbetter commended those who helped out with local and national disasters. "These are volunteers that responded to Hurricane Katrina," Ledbetter said."I think it's very important to understand they don't just respond to national jobs.They also help with local disasters." "Anyone wanting to make contributions can mail them here to this chapter," she said. Ledbetter also said Red Cross Mental Health Representative Judy Lewis from the Northwest Arkansas Chapter would be helping those in need.

The American Red Cross has not requested additional personnel nor food or other goods, said Sharon Ledbetter, director of emergency services in Northwest Arkansas.

But that hasn't stopped hundreds of people calling the local chapter office offering to help those in need.

"Our phone has rung off the wall (Monday) and (Tuesday).We've had an overwhelming number of people wanting to volunteer," Ledbetter said.