SANTA CRUZ – The American Red Cross Santa Cruz County Chapter has deployed two local volunteers to the Pilger, Nebraska, Tornado Relief Effort. Genoa Fox and Frances Rinaldo, both residents of Scotts Valley, California, are being deployed Thursday and will assist with client casework.
Since the day the tornado hit on June 5, the Red Cross has mobilized 29 trained disaster relief workers to provide support. These workers have provided more than 15 mental health or health-related contacts. The Red Cross is working in close coordination with officials to determine how we can best help the community over the coming days.
Because of the difficult nature of this event, local mental health and spiritual care volunteers are caring for families who have suffered losses. The Red Cross also has health services volunteers who are reaching out to families to see how we can help.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
The best way to help is through a financial donation to Red Cross Disaster Relief. Right now, the Red Cross has the supplies and volunteers that it needs to respond but financial donations allow the Red Cross to pay for the full range of help this community needs. Donations made to Red Cross Disaster Relief allowed our workforce to respond immediately to this tornado and the full range of needs it created, including mental health assistance for families, food and shelter.
Disaster Relief donations are being used to provide help right now to people in need. You can click, text or call to donate to Red Cross Disaster Relief to help people affected by disasters big and small. Donations will be used to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small. This includes the Nebraska Tornado and nearly 70,000 other disasters we handle every year around the country. Visit redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
There are other ways people can help:
- Register for a Red Cross First Aid and CPR/AED course so that you can be better prepared to help in future emergencies.
- Download the free Red Cross First Aid App that puts free and simple lifesaving information in the hands of smart phone and tablet users. The app is available in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.
About the American Red Cross Santa Cruz County Chapter
The American Red Cross Santa Cruz County Chapter is a non-profit, humanitarian organization that depends on the generous contributions of time and money from Santa Cruz County residents and companies to provide services and programs that help our community to prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies. For more information on disaster preparedness, health and safety classes, volunteer opportunities, and financial contributions, visit our website at redcross.org/santacruz or call us at 831-462-2881. You may also find us on Facebook and Twitter.