This means we not only meet the material needs of victims by supplying food and clothing but that we also address the anguish and psychological wounds sustained. One way the American Red Cross provides these services is to assist people separated from family due to war or disaster to locate, communicate with, and, often, facilitate their reunion with relatives. The key to the service is the local American Red Cross chapter in your community or the Red Crossoffice on U.S. military installations. The social service staff and volunteers work with the individual to secure information about the lost relative and the circumstances during the war that created the separation. The inquiry is then sent by the ISS Division to the appropriate Red Cross or Red Crescent society, Magen David Adom, or the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Some inquiries take several months, some several years to resolve.
Some inquiries may never be successfully answered. Searching for lost family members often moves beyond the actual time of the war. Often the most miraculous events take place with sisters finding a brother whom they have not seen since WWII, or a Rwandan refugee receiving a Red Cross message that assures him his family has survived. And each day, in chapters across the country, American Red Cross workers participate in these miracles by locating family members at the request of other Red Cross societies.