The San Pedro branch of the Red Cross (SPBRC) held a fundraising dinner at El Patio Restaurant on Wednesday May 6th. Dinner tickets were priced at $75BZ, and included a three-course meal accompanied by fine wine courtesy of Wine De Vine. Everyone bearing a ticket for the dinner was automatically entitled to a chance at winning a door prize at the end of the event.
According to Shirlee Arnould, the SPBRC branch coordinator, the proceeds of the dinner will be used towards CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) training for the San Pedro police officers. “When we do First Aid and CPR courses, we like to include the community. We have actually determined that the people that need it the most just can’t really pay for it themselves. We wanted to sponsor the Police, Fire department and Teachers, since they are the ones who really need the help. To do so we will have to raise funds to ensure that they can take the courses,” commented Arnould. She also mentioned that there has been great involvement from island resorts when it comes to training their staff.
The dinner had a great turnout of supporters who were happy to help SPBRC. After a delicious dessert it was time to get the raffle going. Three great prizes were up for grabs and taking third prize, a standing clock, was Kirk Mcfarland. Second prize was a round trip ticket courtesy of Tropic Air (either to Belize City or the International airport) and it was won by Carl Thomas. First prize was dinner at the fabulous Victoria House, and a very lucky Debbie Wagner took home this coveted prize.
San Pedro Red Cross is also pleased to announce that at the end of May, a trainer’s course will begin. After that training, San Pedro will have its own instructors. Currently, the instructors come from their headquarters in Belize City to train them in first aid and CPR, but at the end of this training, SPBRC is hoping to have up to six trained instructors. They acknowledge that even though they will be certified instructors, it might take them a little while to get proficient and train on their own, so throughout June and July, they will be shadowed by their instructors. However, after that, there will be certified instructors on the island. Arnold who has been with the SPBRC for over two years, is particularly excited for this next step for the SPBRC, especially as they are almost busy enough to hold trainings once a week!
Anthony Anderson, coach at the San Pedro Red Cross branch thanked everyone for their support. He announced that the next SPBRC blood drive will be held on June 13th at the San Pedro Polyclinic. Donors are reminded that the age limit for donating blood is 18 – 65 years old.
 held a fundraising dinner at El Patio Restaurant on Wednesday May 6th.){kind=link}