SAVING LIVES FROM HOME FIRES

CAMPAIGNMINISTRY

One year after volunteers with the American Red Cross installed smoke alarms in Lynn Sentoni’s home,

the twin alarms erupted at the first sign of smoke. The 79-year-old only had time to grab her phone

before escaping her mobile home. The fire department was there within four minutes of her 911 call.

She was uninjured. She credits the home fire campaign volunteers who installed those smoke alarms

with saving her life.

The American Red Cross and Send Relief have joined with local fire departments to reduce deaths

through home fires by installing working smoke alarms. You and your church can become a partner in

this effort as you demonstrate Jesus’ love and concern in a door-to-door campaign.

SAVING LIVES FROM HOME FIRES

CAMPAIGNMINISTRY

S E N D R E L I E F : H O M E F I R E C A M PA I G N M I N I S T R Y2

Discover the Needs in Your CommunityBefore you begin any new ministry, it is important to first take time to discover and understand the

unique needs within your community. Explore the physical community, listen to and learn from people

living and working in the area and seek God’s guidance by prayer-driving and prayer-walking the

neighborhood.

To learn more about how to identify needs in your community, download the Discovering the Needs of

Your Community guide.

If not, check out some of our other ministry guides for opportunities that fit your church’s gifting and

community’s needs.

If you find that providing a home fire campaign (HFC) is a need in the community, keep reading! We have

practical steps to help you get started.

S E N D R E L I E F : H O M E F I R E C A M PA I G N M I N I S T R Y3

The Need for the HFC in America• Thirty-six people suffer injuries every day from a fire at home.

• Seven people die every day from a fire at home.

• Most of those who perish in home fires are children and the elderly.

• Over $7 billion of damage to property occurs from fires at home every year.

• In only a few minutes, thick black smoke can fill a house or the house can be engulfed in flames.

• The temperature from a fire can be 100 degrees at floor level and more than 600 degrees at eye level, scorching lungs and melting clothes to the skin.

• People may have less than two minutes to escape a burning home before it’s too late for them to get out.

• Working smoke alarms cut the risk of dying in a home fire by 50%.

• Three out of every five home fires which resulted in deaths had no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarm.

The bottom line is this: You and your church have the opportunity to interact in your community, help save lives through the installing of smoke alarms and demonstrate the love of Christ to your community.

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Strategically Considering Ministry OpportunitiesTake the next step by enlisting a small group of people within the congregation to assess ministry

opportunities by working through the following questions:

• What partnerships in your community have you considered connecting to meet this need and

use this resource? These could include fire stations, other community churches and leaders and

local civic clubs.

• Who in your church is passionate and equipped to lead or participate in this ministry? Consider

children’s workers, parents and/or families, teenagers or youth groups, Sunday school classes,

senior adults — anyone with a desire to help work as a volunteer in the home fire campaign.

• What resources and relationships has God given your church to support this ministry? Consider

missions offerings, other financial resources, church members and Sunday school classes as

places to start.

These questions can lead this small group of local missionaries to determine whether or not:

1. There is a desire within the congregation to meet this need.

2. There are resources of people, space and money to meet this need.

3. This ministry is sustainable over time.

4. You feel God leading you as a congregation in this direction.

S E N D R E L I E F : H O M E F I R E C A M PA I G N M I N I S T R Y5

1. Develop an initial plan for the HFC. Meet with church leadership, the local chapter of the American

Red Cross and your local fire department with initial information. If you’ve recruited other partners

(civic organizations, other churches), include them in these meetings. Define specific goals for

each partner. An estimated budget can be accessed on page 6 of the Simple Start Guide.

2. Enlist volunteers eight weeks prior to the HFC. See the SendRelief.org Simple Start Guide for the

number of volunteers you’ll need for the number of homes you plan to cover. Note: One person

for each team will need to be background checked so make sure this is included as part of the

early planning.

3. Promote the HFC to the community. Possible ways to inform residents of the dates of the

home fire campaign include: media (newspaper, TV community service announcements, radio,

church and associational newsletters), with posters and handouts in public places and through

community offices.

4. Create team assignments six weeks prior to the HFC. Assign volunteers to teams (two installers,

one educator and one data entry keeper per team). Host first pre-event meeting to set up pre-

event canvass and to identify tools you will need.

5. Order all supplies needed four weeks prior to the HFC. Order: smoke alarms, volunteer t-shirts,

door hangers and other supplies needed through Send Relief.

6. Prepare the pre-canvass event two weeks prior to the HFC. Print “street sheets,” and outline the

area of homes on which you’ve decided to focus (check with fire department for help). Set up

meeting space, meals and refreshments for pre-canvass event.

STARTING A IN YOUR

COMMUNITYGod may be moving you to be the catalyst of starting a ministry

to your community through a home fire campaign. If so, where

do you start? SendRelief.org has a detailed document created in

partnership with the American Red Cross that gives step-by-step

directions. These simple outlined steps will give you a high-level

understanding of what it takes to conduct this much-needed

ministry:

S E N D R E L I E F : H O M E F I R E C A M PA I G N M I N I S T R Y6

7. Conduct the pre-canvass event one week prior to the HFC. Utilize the street map sheets and mark

homes of those who do not want to be visited during the HFC. Make sure everyone is wearing

identifiable clothing (volunteer t-shirts, Red Cross vest). Also, prepare documents for the HFC:

Service Acknowledgment Form (one per home); Training Guides for each team; checklists for the

educator, the installer and the data entry keeper. Put all documents on a clipboard or binder (one

per team).

8. Conduct the HFC. Before teams go out, make sure each team has registered a cell phone contact

number of one team member with the director. Enlist one volunteer with vehicle access as the

supply runner to get supplies to all teams as needed. Hand out team assignments, and lead

volunteers through the training materials (this is required). Encourage teams to look for other

ways the church can help residents as they go. Remind teams to be open to prayer opportunities.

A suggested sample is provided on page 5 of the Simple Start Guide. If teams complete their

assignments early, be prepared to send them on to other streets. As the HFC concludes, gather

leftover supplies, rented tools and completed forms from each team.

9. Follow up after the HFC. Enter information received into Red Cross database. Conduct follow-up

with residents to determine ways the church can meet other physical and spiritual needs. Evaluate

the event with HFC leaders:

• Follow-up with fire department for feedback.

• Did the event go smoothly? If not, why not?

• What problems or issues have come up for which you were unprepared? How can these be

handled next time?

• How good is the relationship with the church and the community? What can you do to

strengthen those relationships?

• Could you expand the HFC to include more homes and volunteers? What would that take?

What’s Next?This is your opportunity to start meeting a huge need in your

community...one home and smoke detector at a time.

S E N D R E L I E F : H O M E F I R E C A M PA I G N M I N I S T R Y7

4200 North Point Parkway | Alpharetta, GA 30022 SendRelief.org