Hurricane Rita recalls Red Cross roots

Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, was 78 years old when the last great hurricane struck Galveston, Texas in September 1900. Despite her experiences in relieving the suffering of victims of the Johnstown Floods, the Civil War, and other disasters, nothing could have prepared her for what she saw as she surveyed the aftermath of the deadliest natural disaster ever to hit the United States. Somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 people died that September Saturday as a result of this unnamed—but unforgettable—tragedy. Her relief work in Galveston was the last disaster operation in her long and amazing career.

Now, 105 years later, as another great hurricane is about to strike the Galveston area, the American Red Cross will be there as it was in 1900 to shelter, feed, clothe and comfort the thousands of people whose lives are—and will continue to be—affected.

As residents of coastal Texas and parts of Louisiana evacuate ahead of Hurricane Rita, the Red Cross continues to help the survivors of Hurricane Katrina, the largest single disaster operation it has ever undertaken.

As of Sept. 22, over 448,000 families have received financial assistance and more than $693 million of the $826.8 million in gifts and pledges has been spent or committed. Over 17,600 Disaster Services Human Resource workers have been deployed from all 50 states and territories living up to Clara Barton’s credo: “You must never so much as think whether you like it or not, whether it is bearable or not; you must never think of anything except the need, and how to meet it.”

Clara Barton would be proud.

The American Red Cross is where people mobilize to help their neighbors—across the street, across the country and across the world—in emergencies. Each year, in communities large small, victims of some 70,000 disasters turn to neighbors familiar and new—the nearly 1 million volunteers and 35,000 employees of the Red Cross. Through almost 900 locally supported chapters, more than 15 million people gain the skills they need to prepare for and respond to emergencies in their homes, communities and world. Some 4 million people give blood—the gift of life—through the Red Cross, making it the largest supplier of blood and blood products in the United States. The Red Cross helps thousands of U.S. service members separated from their families by military duty stay connected. As part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, a global network of 181 national societies, the Red Cross helps restore hope and dignity to the world’s most vulnerable people. The Red Cross is not a government agency; it relies on donations of time, money, and blood to do its work. Marsha J. Evans is the president and CEO of the American Red Cross. (PR)