American Red Cross of San Diego/Imperial Counties’ Month in Review – December 2018

SAN DIEGO – January 8, 2019 – The American Red Cross of San Diego/Imperial Counties operates with the mission to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors. In December 2018, the following key programs and services were provided throughout the region, which covers all of San Diego and Imperial Counties as well as American Samoa:

Disaster Services:

• Responded to 28 incidents, including 26 home fires
• Served 104 families including 344 individuals
• San Diego Flash Flood Response – in response to severe rain and flooding in early December, the local Red Cross provided 189 overnight stays and nearly 1,600 meals & snacks in a shelter set up in National City and assisted 69 families with 230 individuals with casework and recovery planning.
• Provided welfare checks and emergency supplies to a mobile home park affected by a water outage in Allied Gardens.
• In calendar year 2018, the local Red Cross responded to 304 incidents across San Diego and Imperial Counties and America Samoa. Home fires accounted for 235 of those incidents (77%). A total of 519 families were assisted, including 1,498 individuals. Canteen services were provided 28 times serving first responders and citizens.

2018 National Disaster Responses:

• 273 local Red Cross disaster workers filled 419 assignments in 24 separate national disaster relief operations from Saipan to Florida, from hurricanes to volcano lava threats, wildfires, earthquakes and more.
• In San Diego, the West Fire Response in July and the Flash Flood response in December were two of the largest local disaster responses of the year. The response to Tropical Cyclone Gita in American Samoa was also managed by the local Red Cross and involved assisting more than 11,000 people.

Service to the Armed Forces:

• Provided 661 services to 630 military members, veterans and spouses.
• Conducted 17 outreach and pre-deployment briefings, fulfilling 100 percent of command requests.
• Service to the Armed Forces caseworkers conducted family follow up on 144 emergency cases for the San Diego Region and provided $3,533.20 in emergency financial assistance to military and veteran families.
• Distributed over 1,500 Holidays for Heroes cards to local military, veterans and their families.
• Delivered 301 Hug-a-Hero dolls to families in five deployed military commands.
• Throughout 2018, Service to the Armed Forces caseworkers conducted family follow up on nearly 2,200 emergency cases for the San Diego Region and provided $36,294.47 in emergency financial assistance to military and veterans. In total, services were provided to 29,715 military members, veterans and their families.

International Services:

• The American Red Cross works to reconnect family members separated by conflict, disaster or migration. In 2018, the local Red Cross team helped to reconnect an El Cajon man with his brother in Africa after being separated for 26 years.

Volunteers:

• Local Red Cross services were supported by volunteers who spent a total of 3,435 hours in December to aid the Red Cross mission.
• The December 2018 Volunteer of the Month is Rick Krukowski. Rick is a valued Disaster Services volunteer who started the appointment-based smoke alarm installation program. He coordinates scheduling, contacts clients, and makes all the necessary arrangements for installations. During disasters, he will do whatever is needed to help families. Rick has a heart of gold. He is dependable, works incredibly hard to get the job done and always has a great attitude.
• Throughout 2018, the more than 2,000 local volunteers worked more than 113,000 hours in support of the Red Cross mission and another 64,667 hours were spent on-call to respond, if needed.

Women, Infants & Children (WIC) Program:

• A total of 21,775 women, infants, and children received nutrition counseling and support in December 2018.
• In 2018, Red Cross WIC participant families redeemed approximately $13.5 million in checks to purchase healthy foods.
• For more than 40 years, the local Red Cross has administered the WIC program in San Diego County. WIC is a supplemental nutrition assistance program that provides families in the most vulnerable communities with access to nutrition education, breastfeeding support, community resources, and groceries.

For more information about the American Red Cross of San Diego/Imperial Counties, please visit redcross.org/sandiego.

About the American Red Cross of San Diego/Imperial Counties
The American Red Cross of San Diego/Imperial Counties is the most trusted community service organization in education, preparation and response to natural disasters and human emergencies. With the public’s ongoing support, we provide lifesaving preparedness training; disaster relief services; services to deployed military personnel and their families, and nutritional counseling through our Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program. Through Prepare San Diego, a regional resiliency initiative, the Red Cross brings together key community and business leaders from the region to create a sustainable network that encourages preparedness, carries out response and recovery plans, and strives for resiliency in the face of disaster, meeting all aspects of the disaster lifecycle.  The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org/sandiego or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.          

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