In 2025, local volunteers became a lifeline for thousands of neighbors reeling from disasters in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

In a powerful display of community, hundreds of local American Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania volunteers responded alongside partners to provide safe refuge, emotional support and basic health services. They also distributed over $675,000 in financial assistance directly to more than 2,600 people recovering in 2025 from disasters of all sizes in Southeastern Pennsylvania. This included more than 560 local home fires.

Crises like these show no signs of slowing down. During the holidays, home fire responses spike nearly 20% nationwide, due to seasonal risks such as cooking and heating. In Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties alone, nearly 500 people rely on the Red Cross after home fires in a typical November and December.  

“Disasters don’t take holidays — and neither do our volunteers,” said Jennifer Graham, CEO of the American Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania. “Thanks to generous donations, they have the resources to deliver comfort, hope and support to help people recover. Through these simple acts of giving, we together as a community to bring light to a family’s darkest days – right when it’s needed most.”

This GivingTuesday and holiday season, visit redcross.org to make a financial donation or to give back through volunteering. You can also make an appointment to give blood or platelets. The need for blood is constant — and just like disasters, medical emergencies don’t take holidays.

Also in 2025: How Local Responders Helped Disaster Survivors, Hospital Patients and Veterans

•  Over 40 local volunteers delivered aid for major disasters across the country, including wildfires in California, flooding in Kentucky and Texas, tornadoes in Missouri and even a typhoon in Alaska. Responding to disasters is a team effort, and as they become more frequent and intense, families are relying on volunteers for support.

•  Over 125,000 local blood and platelet donors helped save lives in Southeastern Pennsylvania and across the country,including people facing life-threatening conditions like cancer, sickle cell disease, childbirth complications and traumatic injuries. Patients rely on a consistent blood supply to survive and heal — and it’s the blood already on the shelves that helps save lives in an emergency.

•  Over 50 local volunteers and staff supported military and veteran communities in Southeastern Pennsylvania by helping to care for veterans at two V.A. hospitals in the region. 

•  Nearly a dozen people in Southeastern Pennsylvania were honored with a National Lifesaving Award for helping to save lives with Red Cross skills like first aid and CPR. They were among 260 individuals across the country who received recognition, including three lifeguards at the Quakertown YMCA who saved the life of a swimmer who went into sudden cardiac arrest earlier this year.

Click here for stories about how people from Southeastern Pennsylvania helped in 2025.