American Red Cross Issues Progress Report on Relief Response for Historic Hurricane Harvey by 30Seconds Health

The American Red Cross has issued a detailed one-month progress report on its efforts to provide food, water, shelter, relief supplies, health support, financial assistance and other aid to people affected by Hurricane Harvey.

"During this first month, the Red Cross has provided emergency relief to hundreds of thousands of people affected by Hurricane Harvey. But there is still much work to be done, and we will be there to help for months – if not years – to come," said Gail McGovern, president and CEO of the Red Cross. "Hurricane Harvey caused the worst flooding disaster in U.S. history, inundating community after community with record rainfall and devastation – including the city of Houston. We are incredibly grateful for the generous outpouring of support that has enabled us to help the survivors of this storm."

As of September 25, the Red Cross has raised $350 million in designated donations for Harvey. All donations earmarked for Hurricane Harvey will be used to support relief and recovery efforts for this disaster. The following are examples of how donations are being used:

• Donations pay for provision and delivery of food, shelter and relief items, accounting for $42.3 million of our preliminary budget estimate. In the first month, the Red Cross served more than 3.1 million meals and snacks, provided more than 413,000 overnight stays in shelters, and distributed more than 1 million relief items.
• Donations pay for health and mental health services, accounting for $2.5 million of our preliminary budget estimate. In the first month, the Red Cross provided more than 98,000 services to support and care for people.
• Donations pay for immediate financial assistance, accounting for $165.2 million of our preliminary budget estimate. As of September 25, the Red Cross had authorized payment of $400 to nearly 320,000 households. Since then, this number has grown to more than 380,000 households totaling more than $150 million in authorized direct financial assistance.
• Donations pay for individual and community recovery programs, accounting for $108.5 million of our preliminary budget estimate. The Red Cross is working alongside our community partners to plan for long-term recovery services, such as additional financial assistance for people who need extra help and programs to help the hardest hit communities rebound and prepare for future disasters.
• Donations pay to transport, lodge and feed thousands of trained disaster workers who work in shelters, drive food trucks, hand out relief supplies, replace medications and eyeglasses, provide emotional support, and coordinate with local officials.
• Donations pay for the freight and warehousing expenses that enable the Red Cross to provide cots and blankets for people in shelters, and the hundreds of tractor trailer loads of relief items we've given out to help people clean up their homes.
• Donations pay for the equipment, maintenance and fueling of emergency vehicles that deliver meals and relief items to people in need.
• Donations also pay for the full-time program staff, disaster information technology, communications and call center infrastructure that make all of this help possible for Hurricane Harvey.
• Donations also pay for our management, general and fundraising expenses that support our work at its core and are indispensable to running the organization and helping people in need. They include the people and systems to maintain our enterprise-wide computer and telecommunications, HR and payroll systems to support our more than 20,000 employees and nearly 314,000 volunteers, fundraising and communications functions, and other support services across all program lines.

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