It seems that helping Hurrican Sandy victims--millions of them--has been a uniting effort on the eve of a long and divisive election season, and corporations like NBC and Disney to our Patch and AOL teams are rallying to service. (Patch and AOL staffers and their families have worked for days on both coasts to shop for supplies and pack them onto 18-wheelers for delivery into hardest hit areas besides reporting 13,000 articles in the past week).
Donations will go to the American Red Cross. To donate, people can visitwww.redcross.org , call 1-800-RED-CROSS or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
You can also reach out to your local Red Cross chapters for immediate and direct methods for helping, and one chief thing is blood donation.
The American Red Cross Greater New York Region provided the following information with suggestions for helping those affected by the impact of hurricane Sandy. It has dramatic consequences for much of the East Coast and has left millions without power, heat, food. TV reports show gripping footage of people begging for help, and mothers with babies and no way to heat formula, etc. Locally, the Red Cross has numerous locations where you can find out how to give blood or otherwise help disaster relief. In L.A. County, Orange County and Long Beach, the Red Cross has chapters and lists of locations at which you can donate blood and other options.
- Donate Blood or Host A Blood Drive - Encourage employees to participate in community blood drives and/or host a blood drive on-site for both staff and customers. As a blood drive sponsor, you can help meet the blood needs of patients in your community and across the United States.
- Implement a Customer Donation Program - Give your customers the opportunity to support Disaster Relief by simply adding a dollar amount to their total purchase.
- Sponsor an Employee Giving and Matching Gift Program - Engage employees by sponsoring a fundraising campaign in support of Disaster Relief and provide an incentive to participate by matching employee donations.
- Conduct a Percentage of Sales Program - Showcase your commitment to the Red Cross and the people we serve while generating sales for your company by donating a percentage of your sales to Disaster Relief.
- Donate Ad Space - Donate a portion of your advertising inventory and help share our stories about the individuals, families and communities affected by disaster.
- Place a Red Cross Banner Ad on Your Website - Place a Red Cross banner ad on your company website to reinforce your support of the Red Cross and encourage donations through our Donate Now webpage.
- Text "REDCROSS" to 90999 to Make a Donation – Customers of participating wireless carriers can make a $10 donation to support Disaster Relief by texting “REDCROSS” to 90999. Donations will be added to your mobile phone bill or deducted from your prepaid account. Message and Data rates may apply. Full terms and privacy policy can be found at redcross.org/m.
- Many other agencies and organizations are rallying for victims, including church groups. But the Red Cross is the single largest umbrella organization through which help has been organized on a national leve.
