Our Mission

In Massachusetts, a Red Cross volunteer rushes to a disaster scene to help someone who has suddenly lost everything in a fire.

Every year, the Red Cross responds to more than 70,000 disasters nationwide—that’s nearly 200 times a day. The vast majority of these disasters are single family and apartment home fires.

Melissa Sieminski is just one of the thousands of American Red Cross volunteers who respond to these disasters. As a volunteer with the American Red Cross of Massachusetts Bay, Melissa responds to house fires, floods and many other types of disasters. Before becoming a volunteer, she didn’t realize how much help was needed on a day-to-day basis in local communities. “I have received numerous hugs, cried infinite tears and laughed with joy when someone whom I had helped realized that there was hope after all,” Melissa said.

Most people know the Red Cross for our response to the larger disasters—the hurricanes, floods and wildfires that grab the headlines—but we must be ready for every disaster, regardless of its size or the media attention it attracts. We put systems and plans into place to deal with disasters before they happen by partnering with local, state and federal governments; community organizations; and individuals and corporate supporters to provide emergency shelter, food, health and mental health services and resources and referrals to aid in recovery. We also provide canteen support (snacks and beverages) to the emergency workers who are the first to respond when disaster strikes.

Our national infrastructure includes the following:

• More than 20 emergency supply warehouses
• Enough cots, blankets and pre-packaged meals to serve 500,000 people
• A fleet of more than 330 emergency response vehicles
• An army of more than 80,000 trained disaster volunteers like Melissa, ready to serve at a moment's notice

Gifts to the National Disaster Relief Fund make it possible for us to shelter, feed and counsel victims of disasters, from single family house fires to catastrophic natural disasters affecting thousands of people. The Disaster Relief Fund gives hope to someone who may have nothing else left.

Over the past four years, the American Red Cross of Northwest Indiana responded to eight floods and one tornado resulting in six presidential declarations of disaster, feeding, clothing, sheltering, and providing Red Cross services to thousands of Northwest Indiana families. We also responded to an average 1-2 home fires every week, week in and week out throughout the year; these smaller disaster almost never make the news, but are catastrophic to the families that experience them.

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Like No Other Organization - Disaster Services - Health and Safety Services - Biomedical Services - Service to Armed Forces - International Services - I Want to Help