September 17, 2001
Dear Board Member:
Dr. Galandiuk and I would like to
take this time to inform you regarding the Louisville Red Cross activities
this past, extraordinary week. As always, the American Red Cross
proves to be a symbol in time of crisis and our American Red Cross has
truly been involved in many facets of this National Disaster. Let
us try to outline our Louisville response so that you will be informed
as a Board Member of our local Chapter.
Disaster Services – Consolidated Summary 9/14/01
Louisville Area Chapter
· 14 Volunteer and Paid Staff have been assigned to one of the three Disaster Areas
· 3 Emergency Response Vehicles sent to the Maryland Staging Area for reassignment
National Red Cross
Families Affected
25,000
Mental Health Contacts
4,295
Svc. Delivery Sites Open
37
Shelters Open
45
Shelter Population
3,670
Meals/Snacks Served
175,071
Disaster Welfare Inquiries
4,036
Disaster Workers (volunteers &
Paid staff)
9,539
Emergency Response Vehicles
56
Armed Forces Emergency Services – 9/14/01
Louisville Area Chapter
In the first 48 hours, casework tripled in our office, including civilian “Well Being Inquiries”. Casework has now shifted back to our normal military casework function. During this Disaster period, we handled approximately 246 cases in a fifteen-state area. 101 Volunteers and Paid Staff have been assigned to the Disaster Areas and 808 man-hours have been expended in this department since the beginning of this Disaster.
National Red Cross
Well-Being Inquiries 4,036
River Valley Blood Region – Louisville
9/16/01
Blood Units Collected
Louisville
Tuesday 9/11/01 1265
Wednesday 9/12/01 1415
Thursday 9/13/01 1400
Friday 9/14/01 1294
Saturday 9/15/01
638
Sunday 9/16/01
254
Total 6266
National Red Cross
· September 13 and 14 Blood Drives were held in the Executive Office Building of the White House, Capital Hill, and Red Cross Square – 90 members of Congress and 200 of their staff gave blood!
· Total Units throughout U.S.
– 200,000
Office of Volunteers and Health and Human Services
Louisville Chapter
Health and Safety classes were not
cancelled, and additional classes in Disaster training are in progress
due to the tremendous interest in helping with this Disaster Operation.
We have documented every request to help the Red Cross as potential volunteers
and we are setting up many courses to train these volunteers as soon as
possible. We have had so many requests that our volunteer roles will
increase considerably.
Junior Red Cross
Louisville Area Chapter
Junior Red Cross provided childcare services during all blood drives. Teacher Sponsors were contacted to encourage classes to write letters and cards to rescue workers, victims, and the families of the victims.
Junior Red Cross also provided mental
health/grief counseling information to all Teacher Sponsors. The
National Red Cross prepared this information. We have included these
materials with this letter.
Financial Development
Louisville Area Chapter
Two telethons were conducted locally by WAVE-3 and WLKY-32. Together, these efforts raised $250,000!
Many corporations have responded by designating the Red Cross as the “Charity of Choice”. Some of the corporations are McDonalds, Lowe’s, Best Buy, Payless, and ShoeSource. Generous advertising donations have been forthcoming from USA Today, Sears, Lee Jeans, Bank One, Ford Motor Company, CBS, etc.
Local firms pledging major support of our Louisville Area Chapter are Humana, National City Bank, PNC, and many others.
National Red Cross
Our National American Red Cross has raised millions of dollars and they are underwriting a broad Disaster Relief Effort in all three affected areas.
Dr. Galandiuk and I are proud of our local American Red Cross. Our Chapter has made available mental health debriefing for our Blood Services staff as well as our Chapter staff. This function is provided through our Disaster Services Department with a licensed Psychologist in Louisville. Dr. Galandiuk and I wanted to inform you, as soon as possible and of course, most of these figures will change significantly in the next few days. We will give you another update at the October Board of Directors meeting if not sooner.
For more Red Cross information you
can log on to the National Red Cross website: www.redcross.org
Dr. Douglas G. O’Donnell
Manager