Ride for the Red was created by passionate, local volunteers eager to share the story and history of the Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces.

Want to join the cause? Start or join a Ride for the Red fundraising team!

The Red Cross helps members of the military, veterans, and their families prepare for, cope with, and respond to, the challenges of military service. Since 9/11, the Red Cross has served more than 1 million military families. The Red Cross is the only military service organization that supports military families from the day they enlist through their time as a veteran.

The Red Cross provides critical emergency communications for military families, deployment services, veterans programs, financial assistance, and referral information through a network of key community partners.

All proceeds from Ride for the Ride benefit your local Red Cross SAF program.

Emergency Communications: 

All day, every day the Red Cross relays urgent messages to service members stationed anywhere in the world, even on ships at sea, at embassies and even remote locations. This can include good news like the birth of someone’s child or information about the death or serious illness of an immediate family member.

Red Cross workers verify the information in the message and relay an accurate and complete description of the emergency to the member of the military. While some information can be relayed via email or a phone call from home, the Red Cross information assists the person serving in the military and their commanding officers when making decisions regarding emergency leave.

Deployment Services: 

Since 9/11, service members have faced multiple deployments to conflict zones around the world. Transitioning back home can be hard, and many service members and veterans have experienced challenges readjusting into life with their families, their jobs and their communities. This Red Cross program aims help ease that transition.

Reconnection Workshops, which are free and confidential, focus on individual and small group discussion that enhances the likelihood of positive reconnections among family members and others in the community, and the successful re-engagement of service members and veterans in civilian life.

Veterans Programs: 

The Red Cross offers confidential services to all veterans and their families by connecting them with local, state and national resources through our network of chapters in communities across the United States and offices on military installations worldwide.

Red Cross volunteers serve in Veterans Administration (VA) and military hospitals across the nation and around the world. Volunteers, which include many veterans and their families, provide vital assistance in the areas of rehabilitation, recreation, administration, and personal services to the men and women who answered their country’s call and who are now cared for each day in military hospitals and VA medical centers.

Financial Assistance and Information Referrals: 

The Red Cross offers confidential services to all members of the military, veterans, and their families by connecting them with local, state and national resources through our network of chapters in communities across the United States and offices on military installations worldwide.

The Red Cross works in partnership with military aid societies to provide quality, reliable financial assistance to eligible applicants 24/7/365. Assistance can include funds for emergency travel, burial of a loved one, emergency food and shelter, etc.

Click here to learn more about the SAF services provided by the Red Cross.