Carlene Sharples named Volunteer of the Year

Sharples

The American Red Cross of Lee County named Pine Island resident and long-time chapter volunteer Carlene Sharples with its annual Volunteer of the Year award at a recognition dinner.

As the head of the chapter's disaster assessment team and a disaster action team leader, Sharples' contributions to the community have become immeasurable. She has responded to over 50 single-family fires, headed disaster assessment following the Cape Coral tornadoes and become very active in many other chapter activities and services.

"She's truly well-liked and respected by everybody," said Disaster Services Coordinator John Cain. "She's readily accessible, dependable and has good, positive ideas."

Several other awards were handed out during the recognition dinner, which served as a way to thank the over 400 chapter volunteers.

For more than 90 years, the Red Cross of Lee County has continued to grow and improve its disaster response and emergency preparedness services. With a volunteer-to-paid staff member ratio near 40-1, the Lee County Red Cross prides itself as sound stewards of funds donated by generous Lee County residents.

In the last fiscal year the Lee County chapter: responded to 158 single-family fires, provided disaster preparedness education to over 5,000 individuals, trained 5,500 residents in life-saving skills such as CPR and first aid, taught 25,000 people live-saving water safety skills, aided 345 military families in correspondence through our Service to Armed Forces program, trained hundreds of volunteers in disaster response, and continued collaboration with diverse organizations like Lee County Emergency Management, Salvation Army, the United Way, Catholic Charities and others.