American Red Cross Donations benefit individuals, families, and communities within the United States and abroad. According to the American Red Cross, they provide the following types of assistance:
- Disaster relief
- Support to United States’ military and their families
- Life-saving blood
- Health and safety services
- International services
You may not be aware, but most of the people that respond to disasters are volunteering their time and expertise. According to the Red Cross, 90% of their humanitarian efforts are carried out by volunteers rather than paid employees.
There were a considerable number of disasters in 2016, and as reported by the American Red Cross, they were able to provide assistance to hundreds of thousands of individuals throughout the United States. Furthermore, they stated that in 2016, there were more individuals needing assistance due to disasters than in 2014 and 2015 combined.
As of December 4, over 32,000 individuals connected with the Red Cross were there to assist with 180 major disasters. These were located in 45 states and within two United States territories. Almost 800 emergency shelters were opened, which provided 206,000 overnight stays. In addition to serving over 4.1 million meals and snacks, they were also responsible for distributing over 2.1 million relief items.
If you are unable to donate your time, you can make a difference by making used clothing donations to the Red Cross. In this way, you, too, are playing a vital role in helping this non-profit charitable organization be of service to others. American Red Cross donations do make a difference.
People in the United States actually throw away about ten pounds of clothing every year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Rather than throw clothing, including shoes, away, it can be collected by the Red Cross’ pick up service, GreenDrop.
When you collect items to donate to the American Red Cross, you may also want to encourage your friends and family members to do so as well. As you’re likely aware, a popular way of sharing life experiences is through social media. As you’re preparing to make a donation, you can post your reasons for doing so to your favorite social media site.
Another way to encourage others to donate clothing, shoes, household linens, and other items is to discuss it at work. Depending on where you’re employed, as well as the workplace culture, this may be a welcome and rewarding activity.
