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You don’t need a cape or super powers to be a hero!

Heroes for the American Red Cross is a grassroots fundraising and awareness campaign that gives you the chance to make a big, lasting difference—and to be recognized for it, too! Heroes pledges to raise $1,000 each for the Red Cross during the campaign period. If you’re up for this challenge, you can raise the money personally, as an organization, or by hosting a fundraising event. You can make a difference in someone's life by...

• Providing shelter, clothing and food to someone in your community who just lost their home to a fire and maybe lost everything.
• Giving life saving CPR to someone who needs it.
• Helping a soldier receive a comforting message from home.
• Being there to provide emotional support in the aftermath of disaster.

Being a Hero gives you the opportunity to truly make a difference in the life of someone in need…It’s indescribable, and it is what the American Red Cross Central South Carolina does every day.

If you are ready to become a Hero...
you can click here and Get Started Now!

Here’s How the HEROES Campaign works:
The concept is very simple. Local individuals and businesses agree to serve as HEROES for the American Red Cross of Central South Carolina. An individual or corporation can become a HERO by agreeing to raise at least $1000 for the Red Cross.

For over 100 years the American Red Cross has been providing HEROES to our communities. In order for the American Red Cross to meet our commitments to the nearly 1,000,000 people that we serve, now and in the future, we need citizens willing to be HEROES for the American Red Cross. The funds can be raised in a variety of ways. Individuals may work alone or choose to involve their company, civic organization, friends, school or religious organization in their fundraising efforts. An individual or company may also choose to donate the $1,000.

Who is involved?
Anyone can be a Hero! Whether you are an Individual, business, club, civic organization, school or religious institution, you have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of people who will need Red Cross assistance one day.

Why does the campaign exist?
Heroes help to spread the word about the services the American Red Cross of Central South Carolina provides, and they also raise the money that supports local needs for disaster relief, health and safety education, services to the armed forces, and more.

Where is this taking place?
Heroes live and work throughout all of our ten counties: Calhoun, Clarendon, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lee, Lexington, Newberry, Richland, Saluda & Sumter.

How do people fundraise?
You can raise money by any legal means that works for your group. Here are some examples that have worked well in the past:

• Students sit at a table in a local mall for three days asking customers to give to the American Red Cross. They raised $2,900 and fulfilled their community service hours required by their school.
• Firemen held a boot drive for one day at a local Wal-Mart and raised $3,900.
• A restaurant asked each customer to donate change after paying their tab and raised $1,600.
• A pizza restaurant sold “Red Cross Squares” to customers raising $1,200.
• A physician in a large medical practice asked the other doctors for at least $100 and raised $2,600.
• An auto dealership offered to give $25 for each time someone took a test drive for a 3-week period and raised $1,450.
• A popular radio disc jockey asked listeners to make him a hero and raised $3,300.
• A grocery store raffled off a $250 gift certificate raising $1,120.
• A college fraternity raised their $1,000 from contributions from members and parents.
• A running club conducted a small run for the ARC and raised $1,600.
• A local police department held a traffic stop for four hours on a Sunday afternoon and raised $3,500.
• Local retail, banking, and restaurants, ask customers to donate or to buy “Red Cross Squares”. Raising thousands for Disaster Relief supplies. And, if you manage a business, ask your vendors to support your efforts.
• A company ran a “Dress Down Day” and employees made a donation to wear jeans to work and raised $2300.
• The USC Women's Basketball Team held a telethon and autograph day, and raised more than $12,000 for victims of disaster.

What can I do to help?

• Chairman-Oversee the entire campaign in a specific county, recruit leadership committee members, arrange for and run campaign meetings and provide support to campaign participants to ensure goals are met.
• Recruiter-Recruit several Heroes for the American Red Cross and support them as they each raise $1,000 for the Red Cross over the campaign period.
• Hero-Raise or donate a minimum of $1,000 during the campaign and help spread the word about local Red Cross services.

Benefits
We recognize our Heroes in their local newspaper paper, invite them to campaign events, and make sure they know that they’re making a difference in the lives of the people who the Red Cross serves.

But most importantly, the benefit of being a Hero is the special feeling of knowing you're paying it forward. Many of our Heroes are victims of disasters, or know someone who has been helped by the Red Cross in the past. They know the importance of having someone there when you need them most.

Together we can save a life To register or for more information on becoming a HERO please contact: Susan Benesh, Regional Public Affairs Manager American Red Cross of Central SC 2751 Bull Street, PO Box 91, Columbia, SC 29202 E-mail: beneshs@usa.redcross.org ~ PH: 803-540-1244