by Jeff Saunders

Reporter

Northfield Center -- Steve Kaselak still remembers the first call, a middle-of-the-night fire at a Cleveland furniture store, that he went out on as a volunteer with the Greater Cleveland Chapter of the American Red Cross.

"There were a lot of fireman fighting the fire and they needed breaks so we went down and served food," said Kaselak.

"It was just Rose Mary and me, too," he added, referring to his wife.

Now, after roughly 300 fires, with a couple of snow storms thrown in for good measure, Kaselak has been recognized by the Cleveland chapter for his 15 years of volunteerism.

"He has provided disaster relief to hundreds of people needing assistance, including the firemen who are on duty for many hours," states a press release from the Cleveland chapter. "The richest resource of the American Red Cross is its men and women who volunteer for the organization, giving generously of their time and talents."

Kaselak retired as a quality engineer from TRW Inc. in the mid-1980s and as a consultant in about 1990. He said the couple's involvement with the Red Cross after his sister-in-law, a nurse and nun, went to Florida to help with disaster relief following Hurricane Andrew in August 1992.

"She came back and was all enthusiastic about the Red Cross so my wife and I said, 'If it's that interesting, maybe we should join up,'" said Kaselak.

The couple went through training, which included damage assessment and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation.

"We periodically had to have courses for upgrades," said Kaselak.

Rose Mary, who says the Red Cross "does a wonderful job," volunteered for four or five years, but then had to drop out when the experience of seeing the impacts of disasters on people became too difficult for her.

Kaselak continued, driving the "disaster truck," which carries equipment for making coffee, as well as cold drinks, snacks and "comfort kits," which contain such items as razors and toothbrushes for survivors. He also does damage assessments of properties and helps set survivors up in motels with food vouchers. In 2005, he and other volunteers set up cots in the Cleveland Convention for survivors of Hurricane Katrina, but none ever came.

Kaselak said many of the people he has helped were already having financial difficulties even before the fire.

"Then to add insult to injury, their house is destroyed and they're in shock," he said.

Today, Kaselak's volunteerism is limited to May to December, when he and his wife are not in Florida. He estimates that he is called out an average of two times a month.

"Sometimes, when I go out on a fire, I go out on more than one," he said. "Sometimes there could be two or three in a day."

Kaselak said he gets a lot of satisfaction in his volunteerism.

"It's an experience that is fruitful work," he said.

To become a volunteer with the Greater Cleveland Chapter of the American Red Cross, go to www.redcross-cleveland.org/volunteer or call 216-431-3328.

E-mail: jsaunders@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3169