Our Mission

I Want to Help. What Happens Next?

Your financial donation provides a warm meal, safe shelter, a blanket to wrap around the survivor of a devastating house fire and other critical services during a disaster. A blood donation gives someone a second chance at life. Time spent teaching a learn-to-swim class may help save a drowning girl. Around the country and around the world, when you answer the call to help the Red Cross, you answer the question, "What happens next?"

Not a moment passes where a life hasn't been saved or a person served by the American Red Cross. Whether you are one person or a large corporation, there are so many meaningful ways you can make a difference, in your neighborhood and across the globe. When you rise to meet the challenge, everyone's life begins changing for the better - including your own.

Please contact a development officer at national headquarters or your local chapter for more information. Visit our Web site, RedCross.org to make a financial donation. Find out more about your Red Cross in action through popular networking sites like Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and SocialVibe.

Please consider making a significant donation to support your local Red Cross Chapter services in your community, by making a secure online donation at www.nwindiana-redcross.org, or by mailing your check today to:
American Red Cross of Northwest Indiana Chapter
791 East 83rd Avenue
Merrillville, IN 46410-6204.

Our Mission & Charter

The American Red Cross, a humanitarian organization led by volunteers and guided by its Congressional Charter and the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross Movement, will provide relief to victims of disaster and help people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies.

Although the Red Cross is a charity, not a government agency, its authority to provide disaster relief was formalized when, in 1905, the Red Cross was chartered by Congress to “carry on a system of national and international relief in time of peace and apply the same in mitigating the sufferings caused by pestilence, famine, fire, floods and other great national calamities, and to devise and carry on measures for preventing the same.” The charter is not only a grant of power, but also imposes upon the Red Cross duties and obligations to our nation and our partners overseas, to disaster victims and to the people who generously support our work with their donations.

Our Structure

Chapters are the cornerstone of service delivery. Each chapter develops and maintains local disaster plans and identifies adequate resources to ensure the human needs within a community are appropriately met. Chapters conduct disaster training and planning and preparedness.

The American Red Cross of Northwest Indiana Chapter’s charter was first issued on April 5, 1915, and we have been serving our area for over 93 years.

Chapters respond to an average of 70,000 disasters per year. In the event of a disaster, the local and regional chapters provide the initial response in the first 24 to 48 hours. If the disaster exceeds their capacity, they reach out to other regional chapters.

When an incident requires a response that exceeds the group’s capacity, the Red Cross national headquarters augments the response with technical guidance and resources. During a national response, the Disaster Operations Center, located at national headquarters in Washington, DC, becomes the central point for administration of the disaster response. It operates seven days a week, 24 hours a day, year-round.

The Red Cross acts as the primary resource in a community’s disaster response system. Red Cross chapters and relief operations are closely integrated with community response efforts and local, state and federal government activities. We coordinate with other entities to ensure a well-integrated, effective and efficient response to the disaster.

Remember the American Red Cross of Northwest Indiana when you are thinking about what makes The Region a healthier and safer place to live and work.

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