"Sharing the Love of Saving a Life" with M&T Bank

"You can't put a price on someone's life," says Lashanna Walker from M&T Bank. "So if it's as little as making sure they have smoke detectors, and for free, that time invested is absolutely priceless."

Walker was one of four volunteers from M&T Bank who invested some of their time on Valentine's Day helping Sound the Alarm, joining Red Cross volunteers from the Western New York Chapter to install free smoke alarms for families while providing them with important fire safety information. Walker regularly volunteers with Buffalo Promise Neighborhood, but when WNY Chapter Board Chair Susan MacDonald presented this opportunity to her colleagues at M&T, Walker was eager to sign up.

"There was a fire right before Christmas Eve on Shirley Avenue. I have a girlfriend who lives on Shirley, and my heart dropped because I thought it was her house," Walker said. "I confirmed she was safe, but then I heard the story, two kids died in the fire plus an adult. It was so sad, literally a few streets over from where I live at. So when the email popped up about Sound the Alarm, I was like, absolutely. I want to make sure something like that doesn't happen again."

After some training over coffee and donuts this morning by Red Cross instructor Dennis Scott, Walker and fellow M&T Bank volunteers Vincent Gagliano, Scott Maciejewski, and Joan Polanowski joined Red Cross volunteers and visited 18 households in the Buffalo area. Together, they made those families safer by installing 43 free smoke alarms, helping them create escape plans, and teaching them about fire safety.

"The gentleman at the first house was worried because they didn't clean up or anything," Walker said of her first installation experience. "We just explained to them, we could care less about any of that, what we're doing is more important than if you have some clothes on the floor. We're here to put the smoke detectors in, save lives."

This was the beginning of what will be an ongoing partnership, as M&T Bank volunteers will be participating in Sound the Alarm installation events on a quarterly basis. Walker already has her calendar cleared for the next time.

"It's one of those where you may not see the immediate results, but you never know when this little effort and no matter how many hours were invested are going to pay off," Walker said. "It just made me feel good to know, on Valentine's day, we're out there sharing the love of saving a life."

If you'd like to help share that love by volunteering, making a donation to help keep Sound the Alarm free, or if you or someone you love needs working smoke alarms, visit www.soundthealarm.org/wcny for more information.

-Story and Photos by: Jay Bonafede, Regional Communications Officer

Remembering Flight 3407

Every Western New Yorker remembers where they were when they heard the news the evening of February 12, 2009.

"I was coming back from officiating a St. Bonaventure basketball game in Olean, and I remember telling my referee partner the evening felt especially gloomy," said Regional Disaster Officer, Ken Turner, of the night Continental Connection Flight 3407 crashed in Clarence, NY. "When I heard there had been a plane crash, I immediately called Tara Hughes, and she told me she was expecting my call."

Tara Hughes is the American Red Cross, Northeast Division Disaster Mental Health Advisor. She knew it would be her job to work with airline and emergency officials to set up a Family Assistance Center: a safe, private place for families of the 50 people who lost their lives in the crash to gather for information and support.

On Monday, a wreath was laid and 50 carnations placed on
the crypt at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo in honor of the
50 lives lost in the crash of Flight 3407 February 12, 2009.
Photo courtesy: Tara Hughes, American Red Cross

"I immediately went to Clarence, but officials starting busing families to the Cheektowaga Senior Center," Hughes remembers. 

"My second call was to Sister Martha (Olszewski)," Turner added. "By the time I got to the Senior Center, she was already there!"

Hughes would soon join them, and was instrumental in moving the Family Assistance Center to the Hotel Indigo about 2 p.m. the next day. For the next several days, the Indigo was the place families received updates from officials while Red Cross volunteers provided comfort and support, all away from the hoards of media and public officials. When the initial operations began winding down, Disaster Mental Health volunteers like Hughes, Sister Martha, and Peggy McGee-Smith helped the Families of Flight 3407 form a support group that would meet formally for the next seven years.

"Sometimes we would lead the discussion, other times the families would start talking and we wouldn't say a word until it was time to leave," Hughes says. 

Even though the support group stopped formally meeting three years ago, the bonds remain strong. This summer, the Families of Flight 3407 asked Hughes to be one of only three speakers at a vigil on the ten year anniversary of the tragedy, joining Deborah Hersman, Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board during the investigation into the crash, and "Miracle on the Hudson" First Officer, Jeff Skiles. Sister Martha will be leading the opening prayer at Zion Church in Clarence Center Tuesday evening, then she and Hughes will join the families on a candlelight walk to the memorial at the crash site, where at 10:18 p.m.--the time of the crash--the names of all 50 lives lost will be read.

"There's been a family that has been created out of this tragedy. Membership in a club they didn't ask to be a part of, but are now best friends," says Hughes. "They've brought in as family members, too. We have dinner every Christmas!" 

The Red Cross is proud to have been there for the Families of Flight 3407 for the past ten years, and to continue to support them today, thanks to amazing volunteers like Tara, Sister Martha, and Peggy. 

"May they never be forgotten."

-Jay Bonafede, Regional Communications Officer