Holiday Home Fires Leave 80 People In Need

Since December 14th, 25 families in the Western Carolinas* have been devastated by home fires. The Red Cross swiftly responded to each incident - offering food, clothing, emotional support, cash assistance and hotel lodging to 80 adults and children.

Here are just a few of the stories:

• December 23rd. Family of 3 loses their home to a fire. The excitement surrounding the coming holiday was dampened by an electrical fire which destroyed the mobile home of a family of two adults and one child. Two Red Cross volunteers assisted the family during this crisis with food, clothing, shelter at a nearby hotel and seasonal garments.
• Christmas Morning. Fire Destroys family home. The family was uninjured; however, they lost their cherished dogs and the home and Christmas presents were destroyed. Red Cross volunteer caseworker Victoria King, along with 3 other Red Cross volunteers, assisted the family with lodging, food and clothing.
• Christmas Day. Family of 5 loses their home to a fire. Thankfully, no one was injured but the home was destroyed. Volunteers met with the family of 5, provided hotel, emergency clothing, food, stuffed animals for the children and a shoulder to lean on.

Each year, the American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters in the United States every 9 minutes. Our dedicated disaster action team members respond to disasters, mostly house fires, two to three times a day in the Western Carolinas region. They courageously and selflessly sacrifice their own holidays to assist those in need. They are able to do this because of generous donations from individuals like you that provide for the relief items, their training and practice.

I hope we can count on your support again this year. Simply put, your gift allows our disaster volunteers to bring hope and comfort to those in need. Resolve to lend a helping hand to those who have lost so much in recent fires. Please inquire about becoming trained as a disaster volunteer or make a financial contribution to the American Red Cross to support our relief efforts. Visit www.redcross.org for more information.

A Special Weekly Worldwide Wrap-Up!

Welcome to the Weekly Worldwide Wrap-Up, in which we consolidate the international Red Cross and Red Crescent news into one list of bite-sized links for you. It’s a non-comprehensive sampling of the larger and/or more intriguing aspects of our global work…

EAST TIMOR: A team of well-trained Red Cross Volunteers recently helped with a horrific collision in regional East Timor. Four people died and almost 20 more were seriously injured when a troop carrier crashed two hours south of the capital, Dili. Nurses and doctors at the local hospital in Aileu were overwhelmed by the size of the emergency and Cruz Vermelha de Timor-Leste volunteers stepped-in to help. For eight years, the organization has received funding and training support from the Japanese Red Cross and the IFRC.

IRAQ: People in rural Iraq are among the most severely affected by seemingly never-ending violence, the lack of economic perspectives and of appropriate infrastructure. The ICRC is helping needy farmers increase their production in a sustainable way, and since September has provided some 900 farmers in Diyala, Baghdad, Wassit, Babil and Anbar governorates with drip irrigation systems benefiting over 6,300 people. Since the beginning of the year, almost 42,000 people, mainly in rural areas of central Iraq, have been given a boost by ICRC livelihood support projects.

LIBYA: More than 100 surgeons are enhancing their skills treating gunshot and blast-wounded patients through a seminar in Tripoli this week. The training is being co-organized by ICRC and the Ministry of Health. The ICRC conducted similar workshops in Benghazi, Tripoli and the Nefusa Mountains earlier in 2011.

INDONESIA: The ICRC has recently completed a mass scabies treatment program at the Labuhan Deli Prison in Medan, North Sumatra, working with the Indonesian Directorate General of Corrections. Scabies is a contagious skin disease caused by tiny, invisible mites that spreads easily in crowded surroundings such as at prisons. The campaign benefited 908 inmates, who had been living with scabies for years.

NIGERIA: Many children in Nigeria miss school or find it hard to concentrate because of the little talked of illnesses caused by worms. The Mushin division of the Nigerian Red Cross Society is tackling this by distributing de-worming tablets and teaching students about the importance of taking them regularly. So far 35 Red Cross volunteers have targeted 84 primary schools and provided tablets to over 22,000 children.

GLOSSARY:

ICRC = International Committee of the Red Cross
IFRC = International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

Happy Holidays from All of Us at the Red Cross!

Madeleine's Story

What Americans Want This Holiday

Holiday Giving Catalog: Give the Gift that Really Matters

This holiday season, give to someone who does so much for your country; give to a service member. When you’re writing your gift list, don’t forget to include someone who hasn’t asked for anything.

Show our service members they’re cared for this holiday season by offering the gift of comfort. Just $50 lets one member of the military know that you care, and you haven't forgotten all they do.

Military comfort kits provide "a little bit of home" to service members who are injured and spending a few days, weeks or months at a military hospital. The kit is filled what they need to stay comfortable and keep in touch while they’re recovering: a phone card, robe, shower shoes, toiletries and an MP3 music gift card.

“My son was critically injured in Afghanistan…knowing that people cared helped my son recover from his wounds.”— Mike & Jackie, parents of a wounded hero, San Francisco, CA

Take a look at other ways to give in our Holiday Giving Catalog.

Weekly Worldwide Wrap-Up!

Welcome to the Worldwide Wednesday Wrap-Up, in which we consolidate the international Red Cross and Red Crescent news into one list of bite-sized links for you. It’s a non-comprehensive sampling of the larger and/or more intriguing aspects of our global work…

MALDIVES: Last week the Maldivian Red Crescent became the 187th member of the IFRC at its 18th General Assembly in Geneva. The process of forming the new National Society began in the wake of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which affected over 27,000 people in the Maldives. These low-lying islands will be among the most threatened territories should sea levels rise significantly.

YEMEN: Two ICRC staff members and a Yemen Red Crescent Society volunteer who had been briefly held by armed individuals in a village in Lahj governorate, southern Yemen, returned to Aden. On November 22nd, they left to distribute food rations and essential household items to displaced people in Lahj, but were prevented from returning to their office. The ICRC was in regular contact with them after the incident occurred, and contacted the authorities and other leaders in the area to request their assistance in arranging for the prompt return.

NIGER: The ICRC is providing support for a major immunization campaign against meningitis that began last week in the Agadez area of northern Niger. The ICRC is supporting the campaign in the districts of Arlit and Tchirozérine, where over 58,000 people aged one to 29 will be vaccinated by the first week in December.

IRAQ: Over the past two weeks the ICRC, in a joint Iranian-Iraqi operation, found the remains of 103 Iranian and Iraqi soldiers in Al-Fao, southern Iraq, who went missing during the 1980-1988 war between the two countries. In its capacity as a neutral intermediary, the ICRC provides support for the efforts of the Iranian and Iraqi authorities to account for those who went missing during the war and to ease the suffering of their families.

SOMALILAND (SOMALIA): While Southern and Central Somalia carry the brunt of the East Africa food crisis, Somaliland has not escaped the effects of recurrent droughts and political violence. At the newly-established Sheikh Omar Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) camp, the Somalia Red Crescent has been working to recruit volunteers and distribute relief items provided by the Icelandic Red Cross from its clothing business.

GLOSSARY:

ICRC = International Committee of the Red Cross
IFRC = International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies