UM News

A team of UM employees visits a Sweetwater residence to distribute information on fire safety.

SWEETWATER, Fla. (March 3, 2016) — Armed with stepladders, power drills, and other supplies, 80 University of Miami employees fanned out into the Miami-Dade city of Sweetwater last Thursday to help residents reduce the risk of fire in their homes, installing smoke alarms, replacing batteries in existing smoke detectors, and delivering fire-safety information.

The UM Day of Service was all in support of the American Red Cross’s “25! Alive” Home Fire Preparedness Campaign, a nationwide initiative aimed at reducing the number of home fire deaths and injuries by 25 percent over the next five years.

UM employees joined about 200 other volunteers from area companies to successfully install more than 760 smoke alarms.

Joined by Joe Natoli, senior vice president for business and finance and chief financial officer, and Nerissa Morris, vice president for human resources, UM teams also assisted residents in developing fire escape plans and completing fire-safety checklists.

“Fire can be so devastating and can destroy not only material things, but also human lives,” said Donaldo Gonzalez from Medical Human Resources. ‘The work we did today was important, and I’m happy to have been given the opportunity to do my part.”

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