The American response to the disaster relief efforts in Haiti has been overwhelmingly compassionate and generous. Terrible times like these bring out the best in people, and we are grateful for the support being given to the American Red Cross. This generosity will help tens of thousands of survivors cope with and recover from their losses.
Large-scale disasters bring the efforts of the American Red Cross to the forefront of public awareness. Helping families, individuals and communities affected by disasters is at the heart of the Red Cross mission.
That Red Cross mission also extends to many other lifesaving efforts, including thousands of services that the Red Cross provides every day to help local residents in communities right here in Colorado. It is an unfortunate reality that in the wake of major disasters, charitable donations to support these types of local services here in Colorado drop markedly.
While Red Cross donations and workers from around the world are providing food, shelter, water, clothing and medical help in Haiti, the Red Cross is also continuing its mission to serve communities closer to home.
Local American Red Cross chapters respond to a disaster once every 21 hours in Colorado. Most of these disasters are house fires — devastating events that affect hundreds of people each year, one family at a time. These small-scale disasters rarely draw the sort of attention garnered by major disasters, but they do draw the same compassionate service, careful attention to needs, and dedicated response that the Red Cross provides during disasters both big and small. Local volunteers and Red Cross employees assess needs in each case and may provide food, shelter, clothing, emergency supplies and medication and, of course, comfort to those displaced by a fire or other disaster.
Here in Colorado, the Red Cross does more than respond to disasters; it helps communities prepare for and prevent them. Trained Red Cross educators provide thousands of preparedness presentations each year so that our residents can be ready should disaster strike — whether in the form of an individual disaster like a house fire or as a large-scale natural disaster such as a blizzard or flood.
In addition to disaster services, the Red Cross trains tens of thousands of Colorado residents in lifesaving skills. These skills empower everyday people to potentially become lifesaving heroes. In the Denver metro area, the Mile High Chapter’s Health and Safety department features a Transportation Program that helps the elderly, chronically ill and disabled get to medical and other essential appointments and thus maintain their independence and well-being.
The Red Cross also continues to provide services that reflect the foundation of the 129-year-old organization: helping members of the military and their families. The Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces program provides communications between deployed military and their loved ones back home during times of emergency, helps connect military families with resources and provides support in military hospitals.
Finally, the Red Cross International Social Services works with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent societies to provide family tracing services that help to reconnect family members separated by war or disaster.
The American Red Cross will continue to help in Haiti for the long run. But here in Colorado, your local Red Cross needs your support so that it can continue to provide the essential services that help people right here at home.
Charley Shimanski is the CEO for the Mile High Chapter of the American Red Cross, and also serves as the regional CEO for a five-state region.
