Essay On The American Red Cross

Hurricane Matthew made landfall in the United States on Saturday, October 8, bringing up to Category 4 force winds, rain and storm surge to communities across the Southeast. U.S. officials reported damage of at least $10 billion, making Matthew the costliest hurricane since Sandy in 2012. In North Carolina and South Carolina, swollen rivers transformed thoroughfares into canals and homes into sodden islands, in some cases with only the roof or the windows peeking above the water. American Red Cross quickly responded to this natural disaster by giving assistance to the areas and people that needed it. The charity was able to provide 103,000 overnight stays in shelters and evacuation centers, serve more than 1.4 million meals and snacks, distribute 387,000 relief items, including blankets and comfort kits, deploy 225 response vehicles to deliver relief in hard-hit areas and made 32,000 disaster health and mental health contacts (“Your Location”). The goal of the American Red Cross is to cater for people affected by disasters internationally, support for members of the military and their families, blood collection as well as processing and distributing it and health and safety education along with training (“History”). The American Red Cross was introduced by Clara Barton and her acquaintances in Washington, D.C. on May 21, 1881 (“History”). Since then, the organization has gained over 25,000 volunteers and 15,000 nurses and nursing students. With the unity of help, The American Red Cross has been able to donate more than 50,000 relief items towards catastrophes with the overwhelming amount of money they receive. From the generous donations, $186.1 million is invested in collecting, testing, manufacturing and distributing 7 million units of blood products, $356.5 million goes towards the response to disasters (nearly 66,000 per year), $48.7 million provides more than 352,000 emergency services to our armed forces and their families, $146.6 million delivers preparedness, health and safety courses like first aid and CPR, $129.8 million funds international relief programs and $43.1 million is raised for community services. 91 cents of every dollar the Red Cross receives is spent for investment in their humanitarian services and programs (“Where Your Money Goes”). It’s argued that The American Red Cross doesn’t do enough. …show more content…
In 2012, two massive storms pounded the U.S., and the country sent hundreds to millions of dollars to Red Cross for recovering. The Red Cross botched key elements of its mission after Sandy and Isaac, leaving behind a trail of unmet needs and acrimony, according to an investigation by ProPublica and NPR. One of the men who delivered aid, Jim Dunham, had said the truck was nearly empty instead, “just to be seen.” Dunham then said “We were sent way down on the Gulf with nothing to give.” The Relief effort was “worse than the storm.” According to interviews and documents, the Red Cross lacked basic supplies like food, blankets and batteries to distribute to victims in the days just after the storm (“The Red Cross Secret Disaster”). Besides the article “The Red Cross Secret Disaster” and others discovered, The Red Cross has proven their efforts by achieving several awards. The international Committee of the Red Cross was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1917, 1944, and 1963. The Nobel Peace Prize is presented for outstanding achievements in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology