Red Cross Responds to Midwest Flooding While Helping Sandbaggers in Minnesota, North Dakota

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Apr 24, 2013, 01:45 ET

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Red Cross is providing relief as floodwaters continue to affect people in the Midwest while residents in Minnesota and North Dakota are preparing for the Red River to overflow its banks sometime next week.

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"Flooding in the Midwest is affecting thousands of people and the Red Cross is helping; providing shelter, food and emotional support," said Trevor Riggen, vice president of Disaster Operations and Logistics for the Red Cross. "Those who live along the Red River in North Dakota and Minnesota are preparing for what could be record flooding and the Red Cross is there, supporting sandbagging efforts as people fight to keep the floodwaters out."

Almost 80 people whose communities are flooded spent the night in Red Cross shelters in Illinois, Michigan and Iowa. The Red Cross is also distributing relief supplies, providing emotional support and health services and distributing meals and snacks for those affected, as well as people putting sandbags in place. Millions of sandbags going in along the Red River in Minnesota and North Dakota and Red Cross workers are supporting the efforts.

NATIONWIDE RESPONSE Red Cross disaster workers have been responding all over the country since last week. Hundreds of disaster workers are responding in Illinois, Michigan, North Dakota, and Minnesota. They have served more than 42,000 meals and snacks and distributed more than 3,000 relief items like comfort kits, cleaning supplies, buckets and mops.

BOSTON, WEST, TEXAS Meanwhile, the Red Cross is also supporting people in Boston and West, Texas in the wake of last week's tragic explosions. In Boston, the Red Cross is supporting people attending memorial vigils as well as those visiting the Family Assistance Center. In West, the Red Cross is operating emergency aid stations to provide food, water, emotional support, health services and relief supplies as people are allowed to return home. Red Cross workers are also supporting a joint assistance center to help provide recovery resources to those affected. In response to these tragedies, the Red Cross has served more than 30,000 meals and snacks, handed out nearly 10,000 relief items, and provided 3,500 mental health and health services contacts.

CORPORATIONS LEND A HAND The Red Cross is aided in its disaster work by leading corporations that are members of the organization's Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) and Disaster Responder (DR) program. Members of these programs pledge donations on an ongoing basis, in advance of major disasters. With pre-positioned supplies and adequately secured resources, the Red Cross can immediately take action when disasters strike.

The 2013 ADGP members are: 3M; Altria Group; Aon; AT&T; Bank of America; BNY Mellon; Briggs & Stratton Corporation; Caterpillar Inc.; Cisco Foundation; Citi Foundation; The Clorox Company; Community Safety Foundation funded by AAA Northern California, Nevada and Utah Insurance Exchange; ConAgra Foods Foundation; Costco Wholesale Corporation; Darden Restaurants, Inc.; Dell Inc.; Discover; Disney; Dr Pepper Snapple Group; Edison International; FedEx Corporation; GE Foundation; Hewlett-Packard Company Foundation; Humble Bundle; The Home Depot Foundation; jcpenney; John Deere Foundation; Johnson Controls; Kimberly-Clark Corporation; Kraft Foods Group; Lowe's Companies, Inc.; Medtronic; Merck Co. Foundation; Mondelēz International; Nationwide Insurance Foundation; Northrop Grumman; Optum; PepsiCo and the PepsiCo Foundation; Southwest Airlines; Sprint; State Farm; State Street; Target; Texas Instruments; The TJX Companies, Inc.; UnitedHealthcare; University of Phoenix; UPS; US Airways; Walmart; WellPoint Foundation; Wells Fargo

HOW TO HELP If someone would like to help people affected by these and other disasters, they can make a donation to Red Cross Disaster Relief at www.redcross.org or by calling 1-800-RED CROSS. There is enough blood available now to help patients in Texas and Boston. Those who are eligible to give blood are strongly encouraged to schedule a donation time in the days and weeks ahead. To schedule a blood donation, people can call 1-800-RED CROSS or visit www.redcrossblood.org. Those who want to make a donation to directly support the Boston Marathon bombing victims can visit www.onefundboston.org.

About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or join our blog at http://blog.redcross.org.

SOURCE American Red Cross