
By the end of August the group was now meeting in rooms above the First Mortgage Investment Co.’s offices. Those wanting to volunteer were asked to come on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday afternoons. Girls who were still in school were asked to come on Saturdays. It was requested that volunteers help at least one afternoon each and every week. Margretha Marvick, secretary of the local chapter, wrote compelling articles in the Herald about volunteering for the Red Cross. The names of those who volunteered their time at the Red Cross rooms were printed in the Herald on a regular basis.
Another service that the Red Cross provided across the nation was the “Home Service Committee”. This service provided emergency relief, allowances, advice, encouragement, counsel, and information to the men in service and to their families. “An army’s morale is a most important factor in its success, and it was fully realized that a soldier’s morale was vitally affected by the situation of those at home. A man with a wife, with children, or with other relatives dependent upon him, can not put his best into his training and fighting unless he feels assured that these relatives are being well cared for in his absence.”
There is evidence in the Heralds that the Story City Red Cross chapter did their part with their home service committee duties. During the influenza epidemic in 1918, the local chapter put a call out for additional volunteers to help multiple families in the community who were effected by the flu. A letter from Everett Albert, who was in the army, was reprinted in the October 17, 1918 edition of the Herald, in which he thanks the Story City Red Cross home service for taking care of his family. “I wish to thank you for your kind interest shown towards my wife and also for relieving my mind by looking after my home affairs so nobly.”