THE BOTTOM —The Saba Red Cross is hosting an open house on Saturday, October 16 at the Red Cross Office and Thrift Shop in Windwardside from 11:00am to 4:00pm. As the biggest humanitarian organization always relying on volunteers, the Saba Red Cross will also promote volunteering during the open house.

During the first-time event, people can get information about the work of the Red Cross in general, take advantage of sales items at the thrift shop and sign up for trainings to obtain a certification for First Aid, CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and AED (automated external defibrillator, used to help persons experiencing a sudden cardiac arrest). 

The organization wants to use the momentum, the open house, to promote First Aid courses. Saba now has its own First Aid instructors, trained by the Netherlands Red Cross. In the past, the Saba Red Cross always relied on instructors from one of the neighboring overseas branches like the St. Eustatius Red Cross. 

In July this year, the Netherlands Red Cross sent a trainer, Louise Schalkoort, to Saba, allowing Saba and St. Eustatius to each have two volunteers trained to become instructors. The new instructors on Saba are Tony Hughes and Jessica Gumbs. Both are long-term volunteers of the Saba Red Cross and Hughes is also a board member. 

Hughes and Gumbs will start teaching First Aid courses for adults and children. During the open house on October 16, they will give demonstrations of CPR and First Aid. Interested people can already sign up for a course. At the event, people can gather more details about the requirements to become a volunteer. The Thrift Shop will be open during the open house with a special sale.