American Red Cross volunteer Ned Worman from Chesapeake, Virginia, makes sure those affected by flooding in eastern Kentucky know that food is available for everyone affected by disaster. Photo by Kevin Suttlehan/American Red Cross
As large-scale disasters increase in frequency and intensity, the American Red Cross and our donors promote family and community disaster preparation during National Preparedness Month in September to encourage resiliency when disaster strikes. Helping the Red Cross stay ready for and respond to disasters throughout the year are more than 130 corporate and organizational members of the Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) and Disaster Responder Program.
ADGP and Disaster Responder members — along with their employees and customers — pledge financial and in-kind donations year-round in advance of disasters to ensure the Red Cross is ready to help those in need and prepare people and communities for unexpected crises. The organization depends on these annual donations from generous supporters to prepare and respond to disasters big and small.
The Red Cross responds to more than 60,000 disasters across the country every year. Whether it’s a large-scale disaster impacting multiple communities or a home fire affecting a single family, donations from ADGP and Disaster Responder members help guarantee the organization can rapidly mobilize, providing hot meals, shelters, emotional support and financial assistance.
“Sadly, year after year we see the sheer devastation and heartbreak that disasters wreak on communities and families across the country,” said Gail McGovern, president and CEO of the American Red Cross. “But thanks to our compassionate, forward-thinking ADGP and Disaster Responder members, we can quickly step in during emergencies to provide people in need with comfort and hope during their darkest hours. We are so very grateful for our partners and their unwavering commitment to our lifesaving mission.”
Large disasters like hurricanes, floods, wildfires and extreme heat are regularly impacting communities across the country, resulting in more people displaced, vulnerable and in need of support. Some of these emergencies are affecting people who don’t usually experience a major disaster, while other communities are going through the devastation of disasters multiple times a year. In 2020 and 2021, the Red Cross averaged a new, major disaster response every week-and-a-half with volunteers continuously on the ground, setting up shelters, arranging for meals and sheltering thousands of people with no place to go.
As communities across the country continue to experience more extreme weather events, the Red Cross is providing critical support on a near-constant basis to help families struggling to cope. Tens of millions of U.S. households are at risk of being forced from their homes with many facing the threat of poverty due to the dramatic increase in billion-dollar disasters, which have nearly doubled in the last five years compared to the previous five years.
Just this summer, the organization has responded to devastating floods and dangerous heat waves across the country. Currently, the Red Cross is on the ground in California, Oregon and Washington where wildfires are raging and conditions remain dire. More than 6.6 million acres have already burned across the country, and forecasters are still warning of an active hurricane season.
In addition to lifesaving response and recovery efforts after a disaster, the Red Cross also works every day across the country to help people get ready for emergencies. ADGP and Disaster Responder members support this vital preparedness work as well. These partners power the organization’s efforts to help families get ready for natural disasters while supporting programs to help prevent everyday crises like home fires, which comprise the bulk of Red Cross response efforts each year. The Home Fire Campaign is one such preparedness initiative, which has saved 1,393 lives across the country since launching in October 2014.
Just as the Red Cross prepares for emergencies, families and communities should as well. National Preparedness Month is the perfect time to do so by taking three simple steps: 1) Get a kit. 2) Make a plan. 3) Be informed. Individuals can download the free Red Cross Emergency app or text GETEMERGENCY to 90999 to get lifesaving preparedness information and weather alerts in the palm of their hand.
The American Red Cross thanks these program members for their generous contributions.
The current members of the Red Cross $1M Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) are: Amazon; American Airlines; Anheuser-Busch Foundation; Bank of America; Best Buy; Caterpillar Foundation; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Costco Wholesale; Delta Air Lines; Elevance Health Foundation; Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation; FedEx; Lilly Endowment Inc.; Lowe's Companies, Inc.; McDonald’s Corporation; Microsoft Corp.; Nationwide Foundation; PayPal; PetSmart Charities; The Starbucks Foundation; State Farm; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited; Truist Foundation; VSP Vision; Walmart and the Walmart Foundation; and Wells Fargo.
The current members of the Red Cross $500,000 Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) are:
Altria Group; American Express; Aon; Bread Financial; Calmoseptine, Inc.; Capital One; CarMax; Citi Foundation; The Clorox Company; Darden Foundation; Delta Dental; Dollar General; Edison International; Energy Transfer/Sunoco Foundation; Ford Motor Company Fund; Fox Corporation; General Motors; Google.org; The Home Depot Foundation; International Paper; The J.M. Smucker Company; Johnson Controls Foundation; The Kroger Co. Foundation; Liberty Mutual Insurance; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Mastercard; Merck; Mondelēz International Foundation; New Balance Foundation; Organon; PepsiCo Foundation; PwC Charitable Foundation, Inc.; Salesforce; Southeastern Grocers Gives Foundation & Southeastern Grocers, home of Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie; Stanley Black & Decker; Target; The TJX Companies, Inc.; Toyota; United Airlines; UPS; USAA; Visa Foundation; The Walt Disney Company; and The Wawa Foundation.
The current members of the Red Cross $250,000 Disaster Responder Program are: 7-Eleven Cares Foundation; Adobe; The AES Corporation; Ameriprise Financial; Assurant; AT&T; AvalonBay Communities, Inc.; Avangrid Foundation; Barclays; Big 5 Sporting Goods; CDW; Choice Hotels International; Cisco Foundation; CNA Insurance; The Coca-Cola Company; CSX; The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation; Discover; Duke Energy; Dutch Bros Foundation; Equitable; FirstEnergy Corporation; Gopuff; Harbor Freight Tools Foundation, LLC; HCA Healthcare; Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation; HP Foundation; Kaiser Permanente; Kimberly-Clark Corporation; The Kraft Heinz Company Foundation; The Labcorp Charitable Foundation; Lenovo Foundation; LHC Group; Major League Baseball; Marathon Petroleum Foundation, Inc.; Martin Marietta; Mattress Firm; McKesson Foundation; MetLife Foundation; Neiman Marcus Group; NextEra Energy, Inc.; Northrop Grumman; Northwestern Mutual; Old Dominion Freight Line; Pacific Life Foundation; Procter & Gamble; Prudential; Raytheon Technologies; Reckitt; Rodan + Fields Prescription for Change Project, a project of New Venture Fund; Ross Stores Foundation; Ryder System, Inc.; San Manuel Band of Mission Indians; Security Finance’s Lending Hand Foundation; ServiceNow; Southwest Airlines; Tata Consultancy Services; U-Haul International; U.S. Bank Foundation; and Zurich.
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or follow us on social media.