YOU AND YOUR AMERICAN RED CROSS HAVE BEEN BUSY!

American Red Cross of Northwest Florida assisted over 100 family members in more than 30 house fires.

Additionally, we have assisted numerous families after recent floods. On three occasions our volunteers

have hosted cold weather shelters to assist more than 150 members of our local community.

With our 6 full time staff, 2 part time staff and over 900 volunteers we have been able to accomplish the

following just this year: 

1.   Over 20,000 Service to Armed Forces briefings have been provided to service members on our local bases.

2.   About 1,500 emergency communications in birth notifications, family illnesses and death verifications.

3.   Provided 6,000 comfort kits and information to service members deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan.

4.   Almost 15,000 individuals certified in our community in CPR, First Aid, Babysitting, Lifeguard Training,

      Swimming and Nurse Assistant Training.

5.   Responded to more than 180 local disasters including fires, floods, and weather disasters; providing more

      than 500 family members with emergency assistance such as temporary shelter, food, and clothing.

6.   Assistance to our area’s military hospitals by more than 200 volunteers aiding with service delivery.

The expenses of preparedness, along with the cost of staging for approaching storms are very costly even when the storm

does not make landfall here. The planning and staging begins five to ten days prior to the expected arrival of the disaster.

Red Cross does not receive federal funding for providing this assistance. The cost of providing these services for the month

of January were double what was budgeted; which really is only part of the equation, that is, our donations for this fiscal

year (JULY 2009 to JUNE 2010) are running about 70% below our budget. So far Your Red Cross Chapter is $80,000 short

in donations and has spent more than $21,000 over our budget on providing material assistance for disasters.

It has been a hectic six weeks since the Haiti earthquake and since the relief efforts have begun, taxing all chapters in

the country. Your Red Cross Chapter has processed more than $150,000 in donations from our community to help in Haiti,

with an additional estimated $150,000 and growing, which has been raised in our area by National American Red Cross.

Many Florida Chapters have had additional responsibilities to keep everyone busy, like staffing the shelters in Miami and

Orlando for the Haitian relief effort. Your Red Cross Chapter manages the National Disaster Warehouse for the Gulf Coast,

and has sent 4,000 blankets and comfort kits to the shelters in Miami and Orlando. In these shelters, more than 27,000

people have been assisted, most of which were American citizen’s (more than 17,000), and the rest were third-country

nationals transitioning through the U.S. on their way home.

The National American Red Cross is responding to the strong 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile, making $500,000

available for relief operations. The Red Cross Regional Disaster Management center in Panama is in contact with Red

Cross staff and volunteers on the ground to monitor the situation and assess further needs.  The Regional Red Cross

disaster experts from Latin America are also en route to Chile to support the response.

 

Disasters frequently separate loved ones, and there are ways that people can help reconnect with their families and friends.

For inquiries about relatives living in and who have citizenship in Chile, we urge you to contact them by telephone, 

monitor their social networking profiles or contact other family members who live nearby. Telephone, Internet and other

communication lines are often disrupted in times of disaster. People trying to locate U.S. Citizens living or traveling in Chile

should contact the U.S. Department of State, Office of Overseas Citizens Services at 1-888-407-4747 or 202-647-5225.

 

The American Red Cross encourages people in Hawaii, Guam or American Samoa to make contact with their families as

they evacuate. An easy way to notify loved ones is to register online at the Safe and Well feature of www.redcross.org or

by calling 866-438-4636.

 

WHAT DOES YOUR AMERICAN RED CROSS NEED?

Not even Your American Red Cross is safe from the affects of disasters. Because of damages to our building in

Pensacola from the tornados that stormed through downtown a couple of years ago, the decision was made to

sell the building and relocate the Pensacola office to our Crestview location. We used the proceeds from the

sale of the building last year to provide essential services to our local community because donations were

unable to cover the expenses. People trust the American Red Cross with their donations because they know

their donations go directly to providing emergency assistance and other services to members of our community.

 

Our office in Crestview is critical to our mission. WE ALSO NEED A BUILDING IN PENSACOLA,

we cannot expect our volunteers to provide services in Pensacola without a place to work.

 

WE NEED DONATIONS TO SUPPORT OPERATIONS HERE IN THE FOUR COUNTIES THAT YOUR

AMERICAN RED CROSS SERVES.

In order to better serve our community, WE HAVE A NEED TO UPDATE OUR out of date Computers,

Copiers, and Servers.

For more information on how you can support Your Red Cross’s services, please contact Jerry Kindle at

800-773-7620 ext. 13 or kindlej@usa.redcross.org.

 

About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies nearly

half of the nation's blood; teaches lifesaving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military

members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization — not a government agency —

and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission