Archive for February, 2009

Giving A Hand At A Local Level

Saturday, February 28th, 2009

We are all well aware of the great work The American Red Cross volunteers do in emergency disaster situations both at home and abroad. Who can forget the Tsunami that struck South East Asia or the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina? The American Red Cross has provided a great deal of assistance to those people affected by these terrible natural disasters. Unfortunately, it is sometimes easy to forget about the ways in which The American Red Cross is making a difference in our local communities. In fact, you don’t have to go far in order to see volunteers at work helping our neighbors and communities.

The American Red Cross Chapter of Greater Illinois has already helped more than 75 families recover from disasters since the start of this year by providing emergency accommodation, food, and clothes among other things. This level of support would not be possible without donations and assistance of volunteers from members of the local community.

You may be wondering what you can do to help. The American Red Cross gratefully receives all manner of donations from blood, food, clothes, and even donations of cars. You may find the last item surprising but donated cars are sold and the profits are then used to fund relief programs both locally and nationally. So next time you decide to buy a new car, why not make a car donation to The American Red Cross? Who knows whom you may be helping.

And speaking of helping, the Greater Illinois Chapter of The American Red Cross has established a unique project called the BookMobile program. This program helps young children to improve their reading skills by providing books to kids’ Title I schools at no cost to either the schools or the children. This program helps provide 3 books a year to 3000 students in the Greater Illinois area. Programs such as these are only possible because of donations made to The American Red Cross.

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Be Part of The CARS Campaign And Help Provide Relief This Winter

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

Many people provide assistance to The American Red Cross by donating money and giving blood. While these and other donations are invaluable sometimes we overlook other ways in which we can provide assistance. For example, you might want to consider a car donation. The American Red Cross accepts any type of vehicle whether it is running or not and uses the money made from the resale of the car to help provide relief to families in need. One of the benefits of vehicle donation is that not only are you helping others in need but you also receive a tax deduction if your vehicle sells for more than $500.

We are all well aware of the terrible storms that have held many parts of the United States in an icy grip this winter. One of the worst affected areas has been Southern Missouri and Illinois with many people losing power to their homes. In that area more than 217 volunteers from the American Red Cross have been assisting with the relief effort providing over 43,000 meals and snacks to people affected by the storms. The St Louis Chapter of The American Red Cross has sent 16 volunteers to help with relief efforts.

The assistance provided by the St. Louis Chapter to the victims of this emergency would not be possible without donations from people like you. Recently The American Red Cross launched a Campaign to Aid Relief Services (CARS). This campaign has been launched to highlight one of the great ways you can support The American Red Cross in the St. Louis Chapter as well as nationally. To donate a car, or other vehicle to the American Red Cross you can either phone the 24-hour hotline on (314) 516 CARS, or fill out an application form online. Vehicles are usually picked up within 24 hours of your donation. Although the CARS campaign is running now, The American Red Cross gratefully receives vehicle donations at any time.