Disaster Relief Red Cross disaster relief focuses on meeting people's immediate emergency disaster-caused needs. When a disaster threatens or strikes, the Red Cross provides shelter, food, and health and mental health services to address basic human needs. In addition to these services, the core of Red Cross disaster relief is the assistance given to individuals and families affected by disaster to enable them to resume their normal daily activities independently. If needed, the Red Cross provides the means to pay for needed items including groce r ies, new clothing, temporary housing, emergency home repairs, transportation, essential household items, medicines, and occupational tools. The Red Cross also helps those needing long-term recovery assistance when all other resources, including insurance benefits, community and personal resources and government assistance are not available or are inadequate.
All assistance is based on verified disaster-caused needs.
The Red Cross also feeds disaster victims and emergency workers, handles inquiries from con cerned family members outside the disaster area, provides blood and blood products to disaster victims, and helps those affected by disaster to access other available resources. All Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donatio ns of time and money from the American people. Thousands of our disaster relief workers, over 85 percent of whom are volunteers, are trained and ready to respond to the needs of people affected by disaster. A Nationwide Network Red Cross chapters continu ally work to be ready to respond when a disaster threatens or strikes. The American Red Cross relies on the generous contributions of people's time, skills, and money to provide disaster relief.