146 MTSU PARTNERS WITH RED CROSS TO PROVIDE EMERGENCY SHELTER SPACE

MTSU PARTNERS WITH RED CROSS TO PROVIDE EMERGENCY SHELTER SPACE

Oct. 16, 2007
CONTACT: Tom Tozer, 615-898-5131
Ray Wiley, 615-898-2104

MURFREESBORO—The Recreation Center at Middle Tennessee State University will officially become a new Red Cross emergency shelter. Several months of planning will culminate in a formal agreement between the two entities that will be signed at a public ceremony Monday, Oct. 22, at 2:30 p.m.
The event will be held in the upstairs dance studio in the Recreation Center, and everyone is invited. Because of the adjacent construction of the new Student Health, Wellness & Recreation facility, attendees should arrive early.
The driving force behind this effort at MTSU is Ray Wiley, associate director for student recreation, who said he became particularly interested in Red Cross Disaster Services following Hurricane Katrina and signed up as a disaster volunteer.
“I personally felt very helpless during this disaster,” Wiley commented. “I wanted to help, and although I’m a 20-year volunteer with the American Red Cross, I did not have the required training I needed in disaster services to be eligible to help with the shelters.”
Wiley said following Katrina, the MTSU Recreation facility was considered as a potential shelter site for those who were left homeless, but at the time, “we were under-prepared to take on the enormous responsibility.
“I felt I could do more,” Wiley continued. “That was the reason I became a disaster volunteer and a disaster instructor for the Red Cross Heart of Tennessee Chapter. Although I am very excited that we now have this agreement in place, we need many more volunteers who are willing to be trained.”
“This is a wonderful partnership, the very best example of a university and community coming together and combining its resources to help those who are displaced during a catastrophe,” added MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee. “I encourage students, faculty and staff, as well as local citizens to give their time and energy to this humanitarian effort.”
Greg King, CEO of the Heart of Tennessee Chapter and a 1986 MTSU alumnus, echoed the need for volunteers. “Past disasters such as Katrina taught us as a nation that a mass relocation of victims is a reality, and areas away from the devastation must be prepared to assist with the evacuees. We applaud MTSU for its willingness to help our community prepare for significant local and regional disasters.”
MTSU and Red Cross officials spent nearly a year exchanging information and filling out the required documents to assure that the MTSU facility could meet the requirements. Designated basketball courts in the Recreation Center will be converted to shelters and will accommodate approximately 160 cots. Space will be allotted for storage, first-aid stations, restroom and shower facilities, eating and leisure areas, and offices.
Since MTSU’s Police Department will be responsible for handling security during a shelter operation, Chief Buddy Peaster requested that all of his officers go through the Red Cross training.
“I want to thank everyone at MTSU and the Heart of Tennessee Chapter for their commitment and diligence in bringing this partnership to reality,” Wiley said.
The site of the Oct. 22nd signing will be set up with cots and other equipment to simulate an actual shelter layout.

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