|
FAQs
What is the “What If…?” Campaign?
-
“What if…?” is an emergency campaign to
raise $500,000 for the American Red Cross of the
Delmarva Peninsula
in three months.
Why
is this Emergency Campaign needed?
-
Your local Red Cross is in urgent need of
financial assistance to continue to provide
life-saving services to citizens who live on the
Delmarva Peninsula.
-
Your local Red Cross is $500,000 below last year’s
contributions – with little or no safety net.
-
Your local Red Cross provides 24/7 emergency
assistance to local families after disasters such
as fires and floods; it does so with trained
disaster responders, most of whom are volunteers.
However, volunteers are not “free”;
-
Red Cross also works with city, county and state
agencies so that people living in communities all
over the Delmarva Peninsula
are trained and prepared for all kinds of
emergencies.
-
All this costs money – for offices and office
equipment, for vehicles and fuel, for supplies
such as food and clothing to help those affected
by disasters, and also for trained staff.
What happened to cause this financial emergency?
-
The Red Cross relies on financial donations to
fund its operations and donations have diminished
or been redirected over the past few years.
-
Despite drastic cutbacks of people, space and
programs, financial reserves have been drained.
Red Cross services could be in jeopardy.
Why don’t you get the money from the government?
-
Your local Red Cross is NOT a government agency
and is not federally funded. Although chartered by
the United States Congress in 1905, Red Cross
relies on donations from local communities.
Don’t you get money from other sources?
-
Other sources of support have scaled back due to
economic constraints.
-
The grant money we receive is usually restricted
to specific programs and usually cannot be used
for general operating costs.
-
While solid fundraising plans are in place for the
future, this year’s fundraising efforts are
falling far short of budget.
What about getting funding from the national
American Red Cross?
-
Local chapters are responsible for their own
fundraising and operational expenses. The National
Red Cross assists when a large-scale disaster
happens, but your local Red Cross is responsible
for the day-to-day local disasters – such as house
fires, flooding and severe weather-related
incidents.
What about funding from State, County or City
coffers?
-
We are grateful for the generous assistance from
our government partners during major disasters,
but as an independent humanitarian organization,
the American Red Cross of the Delmarva Peninsula
receives only a small portion of its operational
funding from these sources.
Didn’t the Red Cross get a lot of money from the
public for Hurricane Katrina and other recent major
disasters?
-
Delmarva Peninsula residents contributed over $15
million dollars to support Red Cross responses to
disasters such as the Southeast Asia Tsunami,
Hurricane Katrina, and the California wildfires.
-
However, this money so generously given by the
people of Delaware and Maryland leapfrogged over
your local Red Cross and went directly to the
National Disaster Relief Fund, as its donors had
intended it to.
-
Funds earmarked for national disasters are not
shared with the local chapter.
-
As a result, donations to your local Red
Cross suffered, because people had already donated
generously to the Red Cross National Disaster
Relief Fund.
What specifically did the Red Cross do to try to
resolve this financial crisis?
-
To trim costs, your local Red Cross has downsized
the
Northern Delaware
offices, cut full time staff from 49 to 25, and
closed other offices by redirecting work to a more
central office in the southern part of the
Peninsula.
How
can people help?
-
By making financial donations that are
specifically designated for your local Red Cross
(the American Red Cross of the
Delmarva Peninsula),
you can help ensure that we will stop wondering
“what if…?”
-
By donating now, you help ensure that your Red
Cross has financial reserves to respond
immediately with volunteers and resources to cope
with any emergency in your community.
-
Make online donations to the Red Cross of
Delmarva’s “What If…?” Emergency
Campaign at
www.redcrossdelmarva.org.
-
Or mail donations to: American Red Cross of the
Delmarva Peninsula;
P.O Box 767, Wilmington, DE 19899-0767. (Please
write “What If..?” Emergency Campaign in
the check memo.)
What does the Red Cross do when a disaster
strikes?
-
When a disaster occurs, a fire dispatcher or
chief, the police, the disaster victim or a family
member notifies the local Red Cross.
-
The caller reaches our office during the day or an
answering service after hours and informs us of
the location of the fire or other disaster.
-
A call is immediately placed to the on-call
Disaster Action Team (DAT).
-
If the disaster has occurred during the day, a
volunteer responder or a staff member will proceed
to the scene.
-
At night, the DAT Coordinator will dispatch a
volunteer or a team to the location, depending on
the number of units affected.
-
There, the local American Red Cross provides
emergency housing, clothing, or for other
immediate needs as the situation warrants – debit
cards and vouchers are used for this assistance.
-
All assistance is given immediately, 24 hours a
day – and free of charge to the recipient.
General Information about the Red Cross
-
The American Red Cross was founded 125 years ago
with the explicit mission of helping people
prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies.
-
The U.S. Congress chartered the Red Cross in 1905
to provide for a system of disaster response and
to mitigate suffering caused by disaster.
During FY 07, right here on the
Delmarva Peninsula,
your local Red Cross has:
-
Provided emergency relief in response to 177
fires, floods and other disasters.
-
Offered comfort and emergency needs to 231
families (757 people) in crisis.
-
Trained 17, 896 people in lifesaving skills, such
as First Aid and CPR.
-
Instructed 27,385 of your friends and neighbors in
Community Disaster Education, including the 3 steps of emergency preparedness so they could “Be Red
Cross Ready”.
This Is How Red Cross Helped in YOUR Community
Caroline County
The Red Cross provided 17 families (51 individuals)
with disaster assistance and taught 452 individuals
lifesaving skills such as CPR and First Aid.
Cecil County
The Red Cross provided 19 families (68 individuals)
with disaster assistance and taught 1310 individuals
lifesaving skills such as CPR and First Aid.
Dorchester County
The Red Cross provided 26 families (60 individuals)
with disaster assistance and taught 828 individuals
lifesaving skills such as CPR and First Aid.
Kent County, DE
The Red Cross provided 40 families (129 individuals)
with disaster assistance and taught 1476 individuals
lifesaving skills such as CPR and First Aid.
Kent County, MD
The Red Cross provided 7 families (18 individuals)
with disaster assistance and taught 603 people
lifesaving skills such as CPR and First Aid.
New Castle County
The Red Cross provided 79 families (285 individuals)
with disaster assistance and taught 7933 individuals
lifesaving skills such as CPR and First Aid.
Queen Anne’s County
The Red Cross provided 4 families (14 individuals)
with disaster assistance and taught 1053 individuals
lifesaving skills such as CPR and First Aid.
Sussex County
The Red Cross provided 36 families (118 individuals)
with disaster assistance and taught 2016 individuals
lifesaving skills such as CPR and First Aid.
Talbot County
The Red Cross provided 3 families (14 individuals)
with disaster assistance and taught 464 individuals
lifesaving skills such as CPR and First Aid.
|
