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Red Cross Helping Flood Victims Thanks to Generosity of American Public
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 — As flood waters continue to race down the Mississippi river, threatening thousands from Iowa to St. Louis, the Red Cross is opening shelters, readying supplies and providing food and refreshments to sandbaggers.
Red Cross volunteer Anthony Van Deven delivers a cleanup kit to Betty Meyer Dennis, whose Cedar Rapids home was flooded.
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As of June 18, the Red Cross has operated 97 shelters and provided 9,144 overnight stays to individuals, served 134,973 meals and 230,710 snacks, with 75 mobile feeding units on the move, and has distributed 12,760 clean up kits. None of this would be possible without the financial support of the American people- neighbors helping neighbors around the block and across the country.
In Reedsburg, Wisconsin, Ted Kinney and his son Tom have been using Red Cross clean-up kits to bleach their basement and clean out the rest of their home, in hopes of moving back in at some point.
When the water came last Sunday it filled up their basement, destroying everything downstairs and some items on the first floor. The floods left their home uninhabitable.
Ted, his wife, son and daughter have been staying at friend’s houses since the floods first came, but fear they will have to find somewhere else to go soon.
“We come out every morning and start cleaning. Now that the water is mostly gone, we have to worry about the mold taking over. [From what I understand] it can be a big health problem for us,” says Tom.
In addition to their neighbors and friends, the family has been relying on the Red Cross service center and shelter to supply them with food and clean drinking water.
Red Cross in sand bagging efforts
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“For now, we just have to keep cleaning and keep going. We are staying here [Reedsburg] and we have to learn to live with that,” says Ted.
The Midwest floods follow several extremely busy months for the Red Cross, with more than 30 larger disaster operations since April. Combined, these relief efforts have largely depleted the Disaster Relief Fund. The Red Cross relies on the Disaster Relief Fund to deliver vast amounts of clean up supplies, dozens of shelters and tens of thousands of meals to flood victims along the Mississippi. Even with the Disaster Relief Fund significantly depleted, the Red Cross will not cut back on the level of services it provides to clients.
$25 provides five blankets at an emergency shelter.
$75 can cover a doctor's visit for an individual injured in a disaster.
$350 will provide emergency food and shelter for 25 people for one day.
$1,250 will cover shelter and food for 50 disaster victims for one day.
$2,500 deploys one Emergency Response Vehicle and drivers (including housing and meals for driver) to a disaster relief operation.
$3,200 is the average yearly maintenance and fuel for one Emergency Response Vehicle.
Help us help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year, disasters like the floods and tornadoes, by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. Click here to make a donation.
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and counsels victims of disasters; provides nearly half of the nation's blood supply; teaches lifesaving skills; 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 humanitarian mission. For more information, please visit www.redcross.org or join our blog at www.redcrosschat.org.
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