August 31 | | | As millions of Gulf families brace for Gustav, their needs are our #1 priority. Please consider a gift today so that relief like shelter, food and comfort is there for them. | |  Let family and friends around the country know of your status. Register with Safe and Well.
Review the American Red Cross hurricane preparation page.
If you are currently a disaster victim, the Red Cross is not asking you for a contribution. Please contact your local Red Cross for further assistance. |
|
Dear Gordon, I want to reach you before Gustav’s landfall to update you on exactly how the American Red Cross is responding. The storm is barreling towards a wide swath of Gulf Coast states, including communities and major cities battered by Hurricane Katrina three years ago. Without a moment’s time to waste, we launched a massive effort beginning more than 10 days ago… - Mobilizing thousands of staff and volunteers from states across the country including Maine, South Dakota, Tennessee, Oregon, and California.
- Moving large amounts of supplies including:
- More than 470,000 blankets
- Nearly 525,000 cots (including accessible cots, and other essential equipment to ensure accessibility)
- More than 700,000 prepackaged meals and more than 200 mobile feeding trucks
- The Red Cross is ready to open nearly 500 shelters across 4 states within the storm’s projected path with the ability to shelter a total of nearly 166,000 people
This is our largest relief mobilization effort since Hurricane Katrina. The anticipated cost is already more than $12 million—and this is before the storm has made landfall.
Please support our Disaster Relief Fund that enables us to respond to the Hurricanes of 2008. We’re concerned for the millions of residents at risk with Gustav - their homes, their families, their livelihoods. We care about every one of them and they can be assured they are our #1 priority as they face this impending disaster. We’ll be there to help them recover and cope with what happens over the next 24 hours, the next weeks and months. Thanks for your time and support. I’ll be in back in touch as the situation progresses. My sincere thanks,
Joe Becker, Senior Vice President, Disaster Services
American Red Cross
P.S. All Red Cross disaster assistance is provided free of charge, but it’s not really “free” in the sense that no one pays. We must rely on voluntary donations of time and money. And right now, your donations are needed. Thanks for what you can do to be an “early responder” with us on serving disaster victims.
Header photos: storm photo courtesy of NOAA. Gustav preparation photo courtesy of American Red Cross |