City Hall Lights Up In Red To Honor Volunteers

Beverly Hills, March 7, 2018 — The Red Cross LA is honored to have the City of Beverly Hills proclaim March as Red Cross Month at their council meeting Tuesday evening. The City has recognized the services and programs offered by the American Red Cross along with the tireless efforts of the thousands of volunteers who respond to disasters every day in and around the Los Angeles region.  

“We are truly honored to have a world-renowned city such as Beverly Hills lead the way in recognizing our efforts, not once, but twice in the last week,” said Wil Master, Red Cross Community Ambassador and Volunteer. “What’s especially exciting is the subsequent month-long illumination of City Hall in red honoring Red Cross Month, which has also sparked the lightings of multiple iconic landmarks across the entire stretch of Los Angeles from the Pacific Ocean to downtown.”

These lightings will glow at various intervals throughout the month of March and ultimately culminate with them all synchronizing on March 28^th – Red Cross Giving Day.  Giving Day is a day that brings communities together to help families who have been impacted by a home fire or other disaster. Through gifts made on Giving Day, Red Cross is able to provide urgently needed Red Cross services to help families get back on their feet. 

Red Cross Month was first proclaimed Red Cross Month in 1943 be President Franklin D. Roosevelt to raise awareness of the organization and its humanitarian mission. President Roosevelt’s last radio talk to the nation on March 20, 1945 was in support of the Red Cross War Fund. He died 23 days later, on April 12, 1945.  

This past year, with the number of unprecedented disasters, Red Cross Los Angeles Region volunteers and staff have responded four major hurricanes that deployed over 500 volunteers from LA to Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. LA volunteers also responded to the wildfires in Northern California as well as the more recent wildfires and mudslides here in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. 

WHAT WE DO The Red Cross has been helping people in need for more than 130 years. And much of our work is accomplished through the work of our volunteers. The Red Cross:

• Responds to nearly 64,000 disasters across the country providing hope and comfort to people in need. 
• Trains and provides information to nearly 5.9 million people in first aid, water safety and other skills that help save lives.  
• Collects nearly 4.9 million units of blood from more than 2.8 million volunteer donors to meet the needs of patients at hospitals and transfusion centers across the country.
• Provides nearly 391,000 support services to military members, veterans and their families.
• Helps more than 181 million people outside the U.S. through disaster management and disease prevention efforts. 

GIVING DAY The Red Cross is asking everyone to support people impacted by disasters and #help1family on Giving Day – Wednesday, March 28. Your donation can help provide hope and urgent relief such as food, blankets and other essentials to people who need it most. Giving Day is a 24-hour fundraising campaign supporting the work of the Red Cross, helping people across the country in need of emergency assistance. Donate now by visiting redcross.org/givingday