When Tara Graham-Turner lost power at her Pleasantville-area home last fall due to Hurricane Sandy, she turned to the Red Cross shelter at Chappaqua Crossing. While she initially went to it as a showering place for her family, the experience led her to join the organization as a volunteer.
"It was wonderful," Graham-Turner said of her experience.
Her home was without power for about 11 days, and while she did not intend to use it beyond the initial role, the place had blankets, cots and even toys for her two sons, who were 18 months and almost four and a half years old at the time.
Graham-Turner, who is a teacher at Chatsworth Avenue School in Larchmont, also recalled how volunteers came from elsewhere in the country to help. Prior to getting involved her knowledge of the organization was limited. Although she knew about its blood drive work, she did not know the extent to which it was made up of volunteers. The organization, she says, is a "good organization."
A volunteer since March, Graham-Turner's time has included responding to a fire in Mount Vernon and helping at a spring charity ball. She makes herself available on Friday nights and Saturday nights.
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