Military families support group will be offered monthly

Newton — A monthly support group for military family members will begin at the Sussex Red Cross chapter office on 93 Spring St. beginning Friday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. The group will be facilitated by Paul Spergel, a 20-year licensed professional counselor and president of Chester Psychotherapy Group. He is a Red Cross volunteer who has been deployed on Red Cross disaster relief missions for Hurricane Katrina and most recently Hurricanes Ike and Gustav. Spergel said the focus group meetings for military family members will be an open forum based on the needs of the participants but; topics could include simply sharing feelings and experiences, sharing strategies for helping children cope with the absence of a parent, relationship issues or working out conflicts when a family member is away for an extended time. The Red Cross continues its outreach to community-based military families of Sussex County and invites members and their families to attend a free, one hour presentation, “Get To Know Us Before You Need Us” for information on services provided to military members and their families. Additional presentations of this program are scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 11 and Tuesday, April 21. Military personnel and their families as well as Veterans are eligible to receive scholarships for courses in first aid, CPR, babysitter’s training and even pet first aid. For more information, call 973-579-1600.