Valentines for Vets

This Valentine’s Day, join the American Red Cross in sharing your care, support and thanks for the special group of men and women who are hospitalized veterans of the U.S. armed services. The Greater Richmond Chapter of the Red Cross in conjunction with the National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans Week, Feb. 8 – 14th, invites you to select a heart today and provide much-needed items to support the daily care of these courageous war heroes.

Your donations will be distributed to veterans at Hunter Holmes McGuire Richmond VA Medical Center (McGuire RVAMC). The McGuire RVAMC services are available to over more than 200,000 veterans from central and southern Virginia as well as parts of northern North Carolina. The Center is also the primary national facility for veterans with spinal cord injuries.

To learn more or to select your gift please visit the Chapter’s website.

RED CROSS PLEDGES $1 MILLION TO HAITI RELIEF EFFORT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 13, 2010

Contact: Bill Harrison

804-780-2256

804-396-0162 (cell)

RED CROSS PLEDGES $1 MILLION TO HAITI RELIEF EFFORT

People Needing to Trace Relatives in Haiti Should Call 1-888-407-4747

The American Red Cross has pledged $1 Million to the Haitian earthquake relief effort. The organization also plans to send relief supplies from its warehouses in Panama that will help about 5,000 families. “There is an enormous need for food, water, temporary shelter and medical services,” stated Reggie Gordon, CEO of the Greater Richmond Chapter. “We are also being very proactive in reaching out to our local Haitian communities in an effort to support them through this.” The Chapter is contacting other agencies and communities of faith with Haitian ties to survey needs.

For example, the Red Cross has mental health volunteers, professionally trained counselors, who can meet with people who have relatives that they cannot locate in Haiti.

People needing to locate relatives living in Haiti should call the U.S. Department of State at 1-888-407-4747. Department staff will take information, but communications with Haiti is very limited at this time.

“The American Red Cross has an extensive relationship with the Haitian Red Cross and employs several people in Haiti who are directly involved when the earthquake struck,” continued Gordon. “Our main focus on a local level is to connect with Haitian people in Central Virginia to help them through this. Not knowing the status of someone you love can be unbearable and we do not want anyone facing that alone.”

Donations to the Haitian Earthquake Relief Fund can be mailed to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 655, Richmond, Virginia 23218, be made on line at   www.greaterrichmond.redcross.org or by calling 804-780-2250.

END

American Red Cross releases $200,000 in aid to help communities affected by earthquake in Haiti

The American Red Cross has pledged an initial $200,000 to assist communities impacted by today’s earthquake in Haiti, and is prepared to take further action as local responders assess the situation.

“Initial reports indicate widespread damage in Port au Prince, with continuing aftershocks,” says Tracy Reines, director of international disaster response for the American Red Cross. “As with most earthquakes, we expect to see immediate needs for food, water, temporary shelter, medical services and emotional support.”

The American Red Cross has made available all of the relief supplies from its warehouse in Panama which would provide for basic needs for approximately 5,000 families. In addition, it is deploying a disaster management specialist to Haiti, and has additional disaster specialists on standby if needed.

The American Red Cross has an extensive partnership with the Haitian Red Cross, which is expected to lead the Red Cross response to the earthquake.

The American Red Cross has staff on the ground in Haiti who provide ongoing HIV/AIDS prevention and disaster preparedness programs. At this time, they are working to obtain more information on the situation.

The Haitian Red Cross was founded in 1932 and is one of the primary organizations in the country responding to disasters. Although earthquakes are less common, Haiti is frequently impacted by hurricanes including those in 2008, and the Haiti Red Cross has developed experience in disaster response due those disasters.

You can help the victims of countless crises around the world each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross International Response Fund, which will provide immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to help those in need. Donations to the International Response Fund can be sent to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013 or made by phone at 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish) or online atwww.redcross.org.