American Red Cross

A favorite of Red Room authors Tobias Wolff, Kurt A. Bryan, John F. Kremer, Susan Alcorn, Julia A. Hallisy, John V. Wood, Kevin H. Siepel, Christopher P. Baker, Jane Juska, Gary C. King, Elena Patrice, Frank Vizard, Teryl Cartwright, Alice Shapiro, Regina Marler, Judith Copek, and Rochelle Shapiro.

Name of founder: Clara Barton

Year founded: 1881

Mission: The American Red Crossis a humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and education inside the United States as part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Accomplishments:

• Nationwide network of 800 chapters and Blood Services regions
• More than one million volunteers and thirty thousand employees
• Rendered aid in response to more than sixty-seven thousand disasters
• Trained almost twelve million people in lifesaving skills
• Facilitated the exchange of more than one million emergency messages to U.S. military service members and their families
• Supplied blood and blood products to more than three thousand hospitals
• Blood and blood products generate more than $2 billion of the organization's annual revenue, which is more than $6 billion

Profile: The American Red Cross provides domestic disaster relief and offers compassionate services in five other areas: community services that help the needy; support and comfort for military members and their families; the collection, processing and distribution of lifesaving blood and blood products; educational programs that promote health and safety; and international relief and development programs.

To donate, volunteer, or get otherwise involved, please visit the organization's website.

–Huntington W. Sharp, Editor, Homepage & Special Projects, Red Room

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