Website Wednesday: American Red Cross

Every Wednesday I write about websites that I visit often.

It should come as no surprise to you that we visit the American Red Cross website all the time. After all, we are ARC volunteers and need to keep informed on potential disaster relief jobs. The website that we read is not available to the general public; you must be a chapter member in good standing to have access to "Cross Net."

However, there is lots of good stuff at their public website: American Red Cross

There you will find information on how to prepare for floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, fires and other disasters. You'll learn about how ARC conducts First Aid, CPR and Baby Sitter Preparedness training. About the support services ARC provides to active duty personnel, members of the National Guard and the Reserves and their families. About the blood drives that serve over 3,000 hospitals.

Thousands of communities all over the U.S. are quietly served by Red Cross volunteers and staff. Someone is ready, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to help total strangers whose homes have been damaged or destroyed. To provide them with food, shelter and a sympathetic ear.

When we volunteer to help at a disaster relief operation with the ARC, we get to work side by side with some really terrific folks. They fly in from all over the country and spend 2-3 weeks working long hours in often uncomfortable conditions, setting up and running shelters and kitchens. Many are bona fide experts in their field: Human Resources, Logistics, Public Affairs/Media, Operations Management, Network Administration. They come to help our clients get back on their feet and start to return their lives to normalcy.

The volunteers and staff give time, effort and talent. A dedicated team of 300 people (about the size of our operation here in Illinois) can assist about 400-500 families. But they can't do it without food, cots, trucks, forklifts, paper, pencils, electricity, mops, buckets, and a thousand other items that are needed.

That's where you can help. One of the most important statements on the ARC website is this one:

All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of disaster. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster, please do so at the time of your donation. Call 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.

Please donate to the American Red Cross. Your help is needed now, not just when big hurricanes hit. Help support the work this organization does every day, here in Illinois and in YOUR town. If you have already given, THANK YOU!

Photo by Trygve.u