Red Cross mobilizes massive relief effort after Helene's devastation in the southeast

Donations are being asked to help those affected by Hurricane Helene

The American Red Cross has launched a massive relief effort to provide help where it is needed across a vast area spanning hundreds of miles from Florida to Tennessee. Trained Red Cross disaster responders from across the country are working with partners to help people cope with the storm’s devastation.

“Helene was the strongest hurricane ever to hit Florida’s Big Bend region, and at 420 miles wide, regions and communities are still dealing with its impacts across a vast area of the country,” said Trevor Riggen, President of Humanitarian Services of the Red Cross. “Our condolences go out to everyone affected and we want you to know that you are not alone. The Red Cross and our partners will provide shelter, food and comfort in the days, weeks and months ahead.”

For many communities, the looming devastation is far from over.

RED CROSS RESPONSE Working with officials and community partners, nearly 1,400 Red Cross disaster responders are focused on providing shelter, food and comfort to thousands of people and providing additional assistance along the way. In addition, the Red Cross has deployed more than 45 emergency vehicles to get help where it is needed, and about two dozen more are on the way. Where it is safe to do so, Red Cross disaster relief workers drive these vehicles through the affected communities, assess the damage and distribute meals and relief supplies.

Together with partners, the Red Cross has opened or supported hundreds of shelters for thousands of people who have evacuated their homes. Families come to these emergency shelters completely at a loss. Many don’t know where to turn or what next step to take. Red Crossers are providing assistance in this process – no one should have to deal with this devastation alone.

The Red Cross is also working closely with authorities to transition to long-term shelters with robust services closer to the communities that have suffered the most damage. Our goal is to make this transition as smooth as possible for people seeking protection.

The storm also caused numerous blood drives to be canceled across Georgia and the Carolinas. This has resulted in more than 1,500 blood donations going uncollected. More blood drives in the Southeast are expected to be canceled and fewer donors coming to donate in and around affected areas due to poor weather conditions.

HOW TO HELP Help those affected by Hurricane Helene. To make a financial donation, visit redcross.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767). To make a donation, you can also send an SMS with the word HELENE to 90999.

Individuals in unaffected areas are encouraged to donate blood and platelets now to ensure patients continue to have access to life-saving blood. Schedule a blood donation appointment now by visiting RedCrossBlood.org or using the blood donor app to restock the shelves

FIND PROTECTION People can find shelter at redcross.org or the Red Cross’s free emergency app. You can also find shelter by following your local Red Cross and emergency responders on social media or by following local news.

Help find someone If you need help locating or contacting a loved one due to Hurricane Helene, the Red Cross may be able to help. Call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767), select “Disaster” and provide as many details as possible to help us possibly locate your missing loved one. Further information can be found here.

If you have been affected by Hurricane Helene and need assistance, please download the Red Cross emergency app. Our resources are here to guide you in your recovery. If you cannot access the information you need or need to locate a loved one, call 1-800-RED CROSS. However, please note the longer waiting times due to the high volume of calls.

It will take days to understand the full scale and extent of Helene’s destruction, and the Red Cross remains committed to working with local officials and community partners to assist throughout the response and recovery process. Severe storms like Hurricane Helene create more needs than any one organization can handle alone. We work closely with the entire relief community – government agencies, other nonprofit groups, faith-based organizations, area businesses and others – to get people the help they need as quickly as possible.

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 for disasters. ADGP and Disaster Responder members help create a reliable funding base for disaster relief services, allowing the Red Cross to respond immediately and meet the needs of individuals and families affected by a disaster, regardless of cost . Read more here.

$1M ADGP 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 $500,000 Members: ALDI; Altria Group; American Express; Aeon; breadfinancial; 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 JM Smucker Company; Johnson Controls Foundation; Kaiser Permanente; The Kraft Heinz Company Foundation; The Kroger Co. Foundation; Liberty Mutual Insurance; Lockheed Martin Corporation; MasterCard; Mondelez 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; Goal; The TJX Companies, Inc.; Toyota; United Airlines; UPS; USAA; US Bank Foundation; Visa Foundation; The Walt Disney Company; The Wawa Foundation; Wesco; Zoetis Foundation

Members of the disaster relief workers:7-Eleven Cares Foundation; Adobe Foundation; The AES Corporation; American tire dealers; American Water Charitable Foundation; Ameriprise Financial; assurance; Avalon Bay Communities, Inc.; Avangrid Foundation; Barclays; bath and body works; Big 5 Sporting Goods; Build-A-Bear Foundation; Canadian National Railway Company; CarMax; CDW; Charles Schwab Foundation; Cisco; CNA insurance; The Coca-Cola Foundation; The Deluxe Foundation; The DICK’S Foundation; Discover; Dollar General; dollar tree and family dollar; Duke Energy; Erie Insurance; Just; FirstEnergy Corporation; Harbor Freight Tools Foundation, LLC; Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation; HP Foundation; International Paper; invitation houses; 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 South; Northrop Grumman Foundation; Northwestern Mutual; Novartis US Foundation; Old Dominion Freight Line; Pacific Life Foundation; Phillips 66; Caution; Raymond James; RBC Foundation USA; Reckitt; Reliance, Inc.; Reynolds American Inc.; RTX; Ryder Systems, Inc.; Santander; Security Finance’s Lending Hand Foundation; ServiceNow; Southwest Airlines; Stanley Black & Decker; Tata Consulting Services; U-Haul International; Ulta Beauty Charitable Foundation; US Food; Yummy! brands; Zurich

Red Cross mobilizes massive relief effort after Helene’s devastation in the southeast

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