How the Next Generation Fuels Our Mission

Youth and young adults have been part of the American Red Cross from the very beginning. In 1884, just three years after our founding, six children put on a play that raised $50 in donations, which our founder Clara Barton used to help a family affected by severe floods in the Midwest. Left: In 1948, some 160 teenagers from across the U.S. and Canada come together for a Junior Red Cross leadership training in Pennsylvania.
Today, student-led Red Cross clubs across the country help in many ways, from hosting blood drives to helping communities prepare for emergencies and so much more. Right: In 2025, Red Cross volunteers Sydney Martínez and Dianne Estévez attend international youth camps as members of the American Red Cross National Youth Council. Sydney shared she found meaning in building global connections: “We’re all united under the same purpose for humanitarianism. Even though our pasts and our volunteer titles could be vastly different, we are still in the youth space together.”
Left: Clifford Veich/American Red Cross. Right: American Red Cross
 

Responding to Disasters

Left: The 1889 tragic floods in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, marks the first major disaster response where the American Red Cross provided shelter. For months, founder Clara Barton and a team of 50 volunteers, plus doctors and nurses from the Philadelphia Red Cross, delivered refuge, food and medical care to more than 25,000 flood survivors.

Today, Red Cross volunteers continue to provide disaster aid, such as shelter, food, relief supplies, emotional support, basic health services and financial assistance. Right: At a Red Cross shelter, disaster worker JoAnne Fletcher checks on Washington resident Ruby and her young daughter Mariam, following severe floods in December 2025.

Left: American Red Cross Historical Photos Collection. Right: Scott Dalton/American Red Cross.
 

Saving Lives through Blood Donation

Left: Led by Dr. Charles R. Drew, known as the “Father of Modern Blood Banking,” the Red Cross developed a national blood collection system that helped save thousands of lives during WWII and became the model for the civilian blood program that the Red Cross began in 1948. Left, D. W. D. Hector, chairman of the Near South Side Red Cross unit in Chicago, has his blood pressure taken at a Red Cross Blood Donor Center, prior to giving a pint of blood for wounded soldiers and sailors in 1942 during WWII.
Today, the Red Cross provides about 40% of the nation’s blood supply. Right: Rolling up a sleeve in Burbank, California, Ruben Vassolo is one of the more than 2.5 million volunteer blood and platelet donors who enable the Red Cross to deliver more than 6.5 million blood products for patients across the country each year.
Left: American Red Cross Historical Photos Collection. Right: Mimi Teller/American Red Cross.
 

Teaching Lifesaving Skills

In 1934, a startling number of accidental deaths in the U.S. prompted the Red Cross to create a new First Aid Department and train thousands of instructors, many attached to first responders, utility companies and other commercial groups. Left: Nearly a decade later, Lula Owl Gloyne — the first member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to become a registered nurse — teaches a Red Cross first aid course to a group of women in Cherokee, North Carolina.
Today, over 3 million people a year learn first aid, CPR and AED through the Red Cross. Right: A photo illustration shows students learning CPR. Red Cross employee Adriana Higuera (pictured), who has deep experience as an instructor, encourages everyone to learn these skills: “The more people in the community that  are certified and trained, it makes a safer community for all of us.”

Left: American Red Cross Historical Photos Collection. Right: Photo illustration by the American Red Cross.
 

Supporting Those Who Serve

The Red Cross has supported service members, veterans and their families for more than a century. Left: During World War II, Red Cross workers Juanita Morrow and Wilhemina Barrow, both from New York City, serve cookies, doughnuts and coffee to help boost the morale of service members in Maryville, France.
Today, the Red Cross provides support on nearly all military installations in the U.S. and on about 45 overseas installations, including Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. Right: A Red Cross worker in Karliki, Poland, serves an ice cream float to service member Tobias Hall. Hall is far from family, but the Red Cross helped lift his spirits that day: “These treats remind me of my kids and bring me a little closer to home.”
Left: American Red Cross. Right: Brad Zerivitz/American Red Cross.

Delivering International Aid

The American Red Cross traces its roots to the global Red Cross movement, which began in Geneva, Switzerland in 1863. Since the days of American Red Cross founder, Clara Barton, we’ve delivered international humanitarian aid. Left: In 1918, a group of American Red Cross volunteers saved the lives of hundreds of Russian children who were cut off from their parents by war and revolution.
Today, the American Red Cross is part of the world’s largest humanitarian network — with a Red Cross, Red Crescent or Red Crystal society in nearly 200 countries. Right: Joyce Ngoma, a mother of two in Zambia, speaks to a Red Cross volunteer about her children's health records via a program sponsored by the American Red Cross and the Zambia Red Cross, which is part of the lifesaving Measles & Rubella Partnership.
Left: American Red Cross Historical Photos Collection. Right: Brad Zerivitz/American Red Cross.