The American Red Cross in Greater New York (ARC/GNY) continues to be fully engaged in assisting in relief operations for Hurricane Katrina. Below are some of the ways in which we are working to help the victims of this disaster.

More than 70 New York area responders have already been deployed and thirty more will be leaving this week. Many of these trained responders are NYC firefighters who are members of the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART). They were deployed to Alabama with an ARC/GNY ERV (Emergency Response Vehicle).

ARC/GNY has established a Hurricane Call Center, staffed principally by volunteers trained during the past week. The 19-seat center is open 12 hours a day and is handling more than 500 calls a day.

We are assisting more than 174 families from the affected areas here in New York by providing shelter, food, clothing and counseling.

ARC/GNY has been serving as an important information source for the news media in New York and the nation. We have conducted interviews and tours of our Hurricane Call Center with more than 80 local, national and international media, hosted press conferences by Senator Clinton and Mayor Bloomberg and the announcement by BET of its Red Cross telethon on Friday, September 9th.

In terms of the national effort, to date, the American Red Cross has housed 145,000 survivors in more than 580 shelters in 17 states and served nearly four million hot meals.

More than 6,000 trained Red Cross workers from across the country have joined thousands of local volunteers in the affected areas.

The Red Cross is planning for a relief effort that will last 3 to 6 months or more and is mobilizing a force of 40,000 trained disaster service responders over the next two months.

As of September 6, the American Red Cross has received $439 million in gifts and pledges for the hurricane relief effort. Much more is need.

What can New Yorkers do?

• Give money for the relief effort. Call 1-800-HELP NOW or donate online.
  
• Volunteer - The American Red Cross in Greater New York needs volunteers interested in training to become disaster responders, to participate in our many life saving training courses, to be part of our community outreach teams which provide preparedness information throughout the city, or to help support all on-going operations. Click here for more information.