Responding to Chicagoland Floods
  

We've helped families like the Ballentines recover. Read their story here.

• 121 people registered at our shelters.
• We've served more than 927 meals.
• Teams are out assessing the damage in neighborhoods to determine where need is greatest.

The Red Cross will continue to run shelters and comfort residents as they wait for the flooding to recede. We are giving people a dry, safe place to sleep, food to eat and small comforts like toothbrushes and soap. Through Ready When the Time Comes, a Red Cross program, employees from local companies are volunteering at our shelters. This program partners with companies to build a network of trained, local disaster relief workers.

Hurricane Relief Continues in the Gulf
As the remnants of Hurricane Ike doused the Chicago area over the weekend, our chapter is still strongly supporting a massive Red Cross relief effort in the Gulf. More than 20 local volunteers are in the South, helping with feeding and sheltering. This weekend, the Red Cross had more than 2,000 relief workers on the ground in Texas alone. We have opened more than 390 shelters in Texas, and we have the capacity to serve up to 500,000 meals a day. These operations are very expensive, and the Red Cross relies on the generosity of our donors to fund this good work.

Please Give to the Disaster Relief Fund
All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of disaster.

The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster please do so at the time of your donation. Call 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.

Hugo Ortiz and his three small children ate pizza and read books in the shelter. Hugo and his wife have recently made extensive renovations to their home, but this morning floodwaters filled their basement and reached the first floor. Read more about flood evacuees here.