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Red Cross assists over 600 Tinian households
The American Red Cross-NMI Chapter was able to give financial aid and relief supplies to over 600 households on Tinian.
According to American Red Cross-NMI Chapter executive director John Hirsch, he had just recently returned from Tinian to help assess the damage and assist in relief distribution.
The chapter was able to hand out relief packages to a total of 675 households. The packages included hygiene kits, tarps, mosquito nets, water, food, and more.
“We got a lot of people in the community and in different regions donating containers of different stuff. …We are also trying to manage resources that we have and brought in ourselves…We don’t have a permanent Red Cross office on Tinian, so we staged [relief efforts from] the gym,” said Hirsch.
There are still over 20 Red Cross volunteers on Tinian.
Hirsch said the chapter also gave financial relief assistance to those who experienced major damage. A home must first be considered to have major damage by both the Chapter and the Federal Emergency Management Agency before financial assistance is provided.
“If the home is considered by FEMA and Red Cross as a major damaged home or destroyed, they will be eligible for financial assistance but if it doesn’t meet that criteria, then they’ll only be able to receive the emergency supplies,” he said.
Each eligible household will receive $125 per person living in the home.
Hirsch said the disaster has resulted in the Red Cross-CNMI Chapter putting out more of their resources than they have in past calamities.
“None of the work we do would be possible without donations from agencies like the TSL Foundation,” he said.
