Donations urged to help people affected by Hurricane Helene
It’s been a week since Hurricane Helene made landfall, and the American Red Cross is working 24/7 with dozens of partners to get help to people as quickly as possible. Helene’s destruction covers a huge area and it’s taking time to navigate damaged roads and reach communities that are cut off.
“With massive relief efforts underway in response to Hurricane Helene, we are working around the clock to help people and communities devastatingly impacted by this storm’s destruction,” said Trevor Riggen, president of Red Cross Humanitarian Services. “Our hearts go out to all those who have been affected, and we want you to know that you are not alone. The Red Cross and our partners will be there to provide shelter, food and comfort in the days, weeks and months ahead.”
Across the Southeast, hundreds of people are still reported missing. Entire communities were destroyed by fast-moving water and tens of thousands of homes have been affected. People need shelter, water, food and health care. It will take time to reach all of those who need help.
HOW TO FIND HELP Many areas remain inaccessible. If you need assistance, please consider coming to a shelter. We know connectivity is difficult, but if you can, first download the Red Cross Emergency app to find service locations or visit redcross.org/helene. You can also find shelters by following your local Red Cross and local emergency officials on social media, or by monitoring local news. If you’re unable to access the information you need, call 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767).
If you’re searching for a loved one affected by the storm, please complete the form at redcross.org/helene for the state where they live. Provide as much detail as you can. We realize this is an incredibly emotional time and Red Cross reunification teams are working as quickly as possible to help families reconnect.
The Red Cross has disaster mental health workers available at many locations. If you or a loved one needs help, reach out through the Disaster Distress Helpline for free 24/7 multilingual support by calling or texting 1-800-985-5990.
HOW YOU CAN HELP People affected by Hurricane Helene need urgent help now, and we can’t do this alone. You can help by making a financial donation by visiting redcross.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767) or texting the word HELENE to 90999. Financial donations for Hurricane Helene enable the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from this disaster.
If you would like to volunteer with the Red Cross, visit redcross.org/volunteer to learn more about volunteer opportunities.
Helene has led to the cancellation of blood drives across the Southeast, causing more than 2,500 blood donations to go uncollected. Those outside the affected areas are encouraged to schedule a blood donation appointment now by visiting RedCrossBlood.org or using the Blood Donor App to help restock the shelves
RED CROSS RESPONSE Some 1,300 Red Crossers are working tirelessly to provide safe shelter, food, water and support to people needing help. More than 200 Red Cross reunification staff are working to reconnect loved ones despite connectivity challenges. We’ve received some 4,000 requests for help and that number continues to grow.
In the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee and Florida, the Red Cross is managing shelters where residents can get hot meals and emotional support. In the Carolinas, we’re also working with multi-agency taskforces to coordinate feeding efforts and ensure communities get the help they need. And in Florida, we’re helping to assess residential damage.
With the help of partners, we’ve already provided tens of thousands of overnight shelter stays, meals and snacks Where it is safe to do so, emergency response vehicles from all over the country are on the roads in some areas providing meals, water and supplies as families begin to clean-up their homes. Affected communities are facing different struggles, and the timeline for recovery and what support they need will be different.
Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) Through the generosity of our American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) and Disaster Responder members, the American Red Cross is prepared before disaster strikes. ADGP and Disaster Responder members help secure a reliable funding base for disaster relief services that enables the Red Cross to respond immediately, meeting the needs of individuals and families affected by disaster, regardless of cost. Read more here.
ADGP $1M Members: Amazon; American Airlines; Anheuser-Busch Foundation; Bank of America; Caterpillar Foundation; Chobani; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; CMA CGM Foundation; Costco Wholesale; Delta Air Lines; Elevance Health Foundation; Enterprise Mobility Foundation; FedEx; Lilly Endowment Inc.; Lowe’s Companies, Inc.; McDonald’s Corporation; Merck; Microsoft; Nationwide Foundation; The Pfizer Foundation; The Starbucks Foundation; State Farm; Takeda; Truist Foundation; VSP Vision; Walmart and the Walmart Foundation; Wells Fargo
ADGP $500k Members: Altria Group; American Express; Aon; Bread Financial; Capital One; Chick-fil-A; Citi Foundation; The Clorox Company; Danaher Foundation; Darden Foundation; Delta Dental; DHL Supply Chain; Edison International; Energy Transfer/Sunoco Foundation; Ford Philanthropy; Fox Corporation; General Motors; Google.org; HCA Healthcare; The Home Depot Foundation; The J.M. Smucker Company; Johnson Controls Foundation; Kaiser Permanente; The Kraft Heinz Company Foundation; The Kroger Co. Foundation; Liberty Mutual Insurance; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Mastercard; Mondelēz International Foundation; New Balance Foundation; Paul Davis Restoration; PayPal; PepsiCo Foundation; PetSmart Charities; Salesforce; Southeastern Grocers Gives Foundation & Southeastern Grocers, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie; Stryker; Target; The TJX Companies, Inc.; Toyota; United Airlines; UPS; USAA; U.S. Bank Foundation; Visa Foundation; The Walt Disney Company; The Wawa Foundation; Wesco; Zoetis Foundation
Disaster Responder Members: 7-Eleven Cares Foundation; Adobe; The AES Corporation; ALDI; American Tire Distributors; American Water Charitable Foundation; Ameriprise Financial; Assurant; AvalonBay Communities, Inc.; Avangrid Foundation; Barclays; Bath & Body Works; Big 5 Sporting Goods; Build-A-Bear Foundation; Canadian National Railway; CarMax; CDW; Charles Schwab Foundation; Cisco Foundation; CNA Insurance; The Coca-Cola Foundation; The Deluxe Foundation; The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation; Discover; Dollar General; Dollar Tree and Family Dollar; Duke Energy; Erie Insurance; Equitable; Fifth Third Foundation; FirstEnergy Corporation; Harbor Freight Tools Foundation, LLC; Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation; HP Foundation; International Paper; Invitation Homes; Keurig Dr Pepper; Kimberly-Clark Corporation; L’Oréal; The Labcorp Charitable Foundation; Lenovo Foundation; LKQ; Macy’s, Inc.; Major League Baseball; Marathon Petroleum Corporation; Martin Marietta; Masco; Mattress Firm; McKesson Foundation; MetLife Foundation; Neiman Marcus Group; NextEra Energy, Inc.; Norfolk Southern; Northrop Grumman Foundation; Northwestern Mutual; Novartis; Old Dominion Freight Line; Pacific Life Foundation; Phillips 66; Prudential; Raymond James; RBC Foundation USA; Reckitt; Reliance, Inc.; Reynolds American Inc.; RTX; Ryder System, Inc.; Santander; Security Finance’s Lending Hand Foundation; ServiceNow; Southwest Airlines; Stanley Black & Decker; Stephen’s Inc.; Tata Consultancy Services; U-Haul International; Ulta Beauty Charitable Foundation; U.S. Foods; Yum! Brands; Zurich
