Today is American Red Cross ‘Giving Day’

The American Red Cross serving the Central and Southern Illinois Region is holding its 2016 Giving Day today, April 21. This one-day event is designed to rally the public to support the Red Cross as it meets its critical and lifesaving mission of helping families who have been affected by disaster or emergencies.

Every year, the Red Cross responds to nearly 66,000 disasters nationwide. The vast majority of these are home fires where a family has lost everything... the roof over their heads, their clothes, and their most cherished possessions. In the Central and Southern Illinois Region, the Red Cross responds annually to more than 900 disasters.

The Red Cross mission is to help those in need and the organization relies on the support of donations to provide vital assistance to people impacted by fires and other disasters.

According to the American Red Cross, it takes  $88.50  to support a family of three with basic essentials for one day following a disaster that affects a community such as a tornado. A gift to our one-day awareness effort can provide urgent relief like a day’s worth of food, plus blankets and other essentials.

Giving Day’s help-1-family effort can help a family begin to recover from a disaster by: Supporting a family in urgent need by providing them with food and essentials. Delivering blankets to ensure families stay warm and can get a good night’s sleep.         Providing clean-up kits after a disaster like mops, buckets and disinfectant.

Donations can be made now by visiting redcross.org/givingday. A $10 donation to the Red Cross can be made by texting REDCROSS to 90999.