Donations collected during National Red Cross Month

March is National Red Cross month and all US Bank branches in the state are collecting donations throughout the month. The monies collected will help the chapter provide assistance to your neighbors who have lost a home due to a fire or provide training for CPR, baby-sitting or wilderness survival. On average, your local Red Cross provides help to a family every three days. We also provide training for baby-sitting certification, infant and adult CPR, and the newest class, a wilderness first aid/survival class.

You don't have to have an account with US Bank to make a donation. They have paper shapes (similar to those in other campaigns) that are put on the wall when someone makes a donation. Let's all work together to have the walls in the local branches covered with paper pledging our help to our neighbors.

The Real Heroes Breakfast is another way to support your chapter in their mission to help the community. The seventh annual event is on Thursday, March 25, at Harrah's in Reno. It begins at 7 a.m. and the cost is $25 per person. The proceeds from the event are used to help local families affected by a fire or provide training. Channel 2 is one of the corporate sponsors of the event and they will be spotlighting the 39 nominees on their newscasts as we get closer to the event. Each of the nominees has gone above and beyond the normal level of helping. It truly is one of the most heartwarming events of the year. Hope to see you there.

The 2010 census forms are in the mail and should be arriving in a few days. This year they only have 10 short answer questions and should take less than 10 minutes to complete. In 2000, only about two-thirds of our county's residents returned the forms. Why is it so important to return the form? A lot of the money that comes into our area from the federal government is based on the number of people living in our county. If only two-thirds of the people are accounted for, then we only receive two-thirds of the dollars we are due. This has a significant impact on education, health, and social services in the county and state.

This census form is the shortest and easiest to complete in all the previous years. Please take the time to answer the questions and return it so we have an accurate count of the number of people who will benefit from the various programs. Douglas County has increased in population since the 2000 census. Let's have a goal of 100 percent participation in 2010.

Have a ramblin' good week.

Reach Gail Davis at 265-1947 or RuhenstrothRamblings@yahoo.com