The Red Cross was helping before the first drop of rain fell and we’ll be here in the weeks and months to come
The American Red Cross and our partners are helping day and night as weary Floridians once again deal with the heartbreaking aftermath of a deadly hurricane and exhausted people in the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee continue to cope with the destruction left behind by Hurricane Helene.
WE NEED YOUR HELP People need urgent support now, and the Red Cross can’t do this alone. Please help by making a financial donation, an appointment to give blood or platelets, or signing up to become a volunteer by visiting redcross.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767). Financial donations to help people affected by Hurricanes Milton and Helene enable the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from these disasters. You can also text the word HURRICANES to 90999 to make a donation.
Thanks to the generosity of blood donors in unimpacted areas of the country, the Red Cross could ensure lifesaving blood products were available to patients ahead of these storms. Those outside of affected areas are encouraged to continue giving blood and platelets by scheduling a blood donation appointment here.
If you want to make a difference in the lives of others, consider becoming a Red Cross volunteer.
HURRICANE MILTON More than 14,000 people spent Thursday night in evacuation shelters across Florida, where the danger isn’t over. Many rivers are at flood stage and heavy rain and thunderstorms could lead to flooding over the weekend. Millions are without power, and Milton’s damage can be seen across the state from the numerous tornadoes, heavy rain, strong winds and storm surge.
The priority of the Red Cross is making sure people have a safe place to stay with food and water. As conditions improve, dozens of emergency response vehicles will begin to travel through affected neighborhoods, delivering meals and relief supplies.
If an emergency has forced you to evacuate your home, or disrupted your access to essential services, the Red Cross may be able to help. You can access these services even if you don’t need a place to sleep — anyone with a disaster-related need can visit a Red Cross shelter for assistance.
Evacuation shelters will transition to emergency shelters, and the locations may change as we find places better equipped to support people who can’t return home. If you need a safe place to stay visit redcross.org, download the free Red Cross Emergency app or call 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767). You can also find shelters by following your local Red Cross and local emergency officials on social media, or by monitoring local news. People don’t have to stay overnight in shelters to have access to Red Cross services. If you need help getting to a shelter in Florida, call 800-729-3413 for help or visit floridadisaster.org.
Red Cross shelters are open to everyone in need, regardless of race, ethnicity, age, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability or citizenship status. All disaster assistance is free. We don’t require people to show any kind of identification to enter a shelter — just their name and where they were living before the disaster.
HURRICANE HELENE People in the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee are still struggling with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and the Red Cross is working with partners and officials to get them the help they need.
Helene’s destruction covers hundreds of miles and different areas have unique needs. In one neighborhood, people needed shower trailers to bathe, and spark plugs to keep the machinery running to support cleanup. With the help of our partners, we were able to provide both.
Dozens of emergency response vehicles are on the roads providing meals, water and supplies to those living without electricity and struggling to clean up their homes. Working with partners, the Red Cross has provided over 710,000 meals and snacks, and more than 34,000 relief items like cleaning and hygiene supplies for thousands of affected families.
People continue to search for missing loved ones and Red Cross reunification teams are working nonstop to help. If you need assistance, visit redcross.org/helene
CLIMATE CRISIS These back-to-back storms are examples of how the climate crisis is worsening and why communities are relying on the Red Cross for much needed support on a continual basis. We can’t do this alone. Disasters this large require a team effort and we rely on community partners and generous donors to ensure we can mobilize quickly when it matters most. To respond effectively, we depend on a large network of trained volunteers and disaster employees, as well as a fleet of response vehicles and warehouses stocked with relief supplies across the country.
Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) Through the generosity of our American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) and Disaster Responder members, the American Red Cross is prepared before disaster strikes. ADGP and Disaster Responder members help secure a reliable funding base for disaster relief services that enables the Red Cross to respond immediately, meeting the needs of individuals and families affected by
ADGP $1M Members: Amazon; American Airlines; Anheuser-Busch Foundation; Bank of America; Caterpillar Foundation; Chobani; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; CMA CGM Foundation; Costco Wholesale; Delta Air Lines; Elevance Health Foundation; Enterprise Mobility Foundation; FedEx; Lilly Endowment Inc.; Lowe's Companies, Inc.; McDonald’s Corporation; Merck; Microsoft; Nationwide Foundation; The Pfizer Foundation; The Starbucks Foundation; State Farm; Takeda; Truist Foundation; VSP Vision; Walmart and the Walmart Foundation; Wells Fargo
ADGP $500k Members: Altria Group; American Express; Aon; Bread Financial; Capital One; Chick-fil-A; Citi Foundation; The Clorox Company; Danaher Foundation; Darden Foundation; Delta Dental; DHL Supply Chain; Edison International; Energy Transfer/Sunoco Foundation; Ford Philanthropy; Fox Corporation; General Motors; Google.org; HCA Healthcare; The Home Depot Foundation; The J.M. Smucker Company; Johnson Controls Foundation; Kaiser Permanente; The Kraft Heinz Company Foundation; The Kroger Co. Foundation; Liberty Mutual Insurance; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Mastercard; Mondelēz International Foundation; New Balance Foundation; Paul Davis Restoration; PayPal; PepsiCo Foundation; PetSmart Charities; Salesforce; Southeastern Grocers Gives Foundation & Southeastern Grocers, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie; Stryker; Target; The TJX Companies, Inc.; Toyota; United Airlines; UPS; USAA; U.S. Bank Foundation; Visa Foundation; The Walt Disney Company; The Wawa Foundation; Wesco; Zoetis Foundation
Disaster Responder Members: 7-Eleven Cares Foundation; Adobe; The AES Corporation; ALDI; American Tire Distributors; American Water Charitable Foundation; Ameriprise Financial; Assurant; AvalonBay Communities, Inc.; Avangrid Foundation; Barclays; Bath & Body Works; Big 5 Sporting Goods; Build-A-Bear Foundation; Canadian National Railway; CarMax; CDW; Charles Schwab Foundation; Cisco Foundation; CNA Insurance; The Coca-Cola Foundation; The Deluxe Foundation; The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation; Discover; Dollar General; Dollar Tree and Family Dollar; Duke Energy; Erie Insurance; Equitable; Fifth Third Foundation; FirstEnergy Corporation; Harbor Freight Tools Foundation, LLC; Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation; HP Foundation; International Paper; Invitation Homes; Keurig Dr Pepper; Kimberly-Clark Corporation; L’Oréal; The Labcorp Charitable Foundation; Lenovo Foundation; LKQ; Macy’s, Inc.; Major League Baseball; Marathon Petroleum Corporation; Martin Marietta; Masco; Mattress Firm; McKesson Foundation; MetLife Foundation; Neiman Marcus Group; NextEra Energy, Inc.; Norfolk Southern; Northrop Grumman Foundation; Northwestern Mutual; Novartis; Old Dominion Freight Line; Pacific Life Foundation; Phillips 66; Prudential; Raymond James; RBC Foundation USA; Reckitt; Reliance, Inc.; Reynolds American Inc.; RTX; Ryder System, Inc.; Santander; Security Finance’s Lending Hand Foundation; ServiceNow; Southwest Airlines; Stanley Black & Decker; Suburban Propane; Tata Consultancy Services; U-Haul International; Ulta Beauty Charitable Foundation; U.S. Foods; Yum! Brands; Zurich
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or follow us on social media.