(Media release from American Red Cross, Georgia Region):
Join the American Red Cross for its 10th annual Giving Day on Wednesday, March 27. Giving Day is an opportunity for local communities to come together on one day to help families impacted by a home fire or other disaster who urgently need Red Cross services to get back on their feet.
The Red Cross of Georgia has partnered with Georgia’s Own Credit Union to mark Giving Day. On March 26 and 27, a mural atop their 450-foot building at 100 Peachtree St. NW will illuminate the Atlanta skyline, encouraging everyone to give a gift that provides hope and critical relief during emergencies.
“Donations enable the Red Cross to respond to disasters in the U.S. when help can’t wait for families who need emergency shelter, food, emotional support and other assistance,” said Alicia Doherty, Regional Executive for the American Red Cross of Georgia. “This support remains critical as large disasters like hurricanes, floods and wildfires grow in frequency and intensity year after year — and home fires continue to impact lives every day.”
HOW YOU CAN HELP On March 27, unite with thousands of compassionate people during Red Cross Giving Day by donating at redcross.org/givingday. A gift of any size makes a difference in providing shelter, food, relief items, emotional support and other assistance. In the morning, the Malott Family Foundation will generously match online donations up to $200,000 and Kevin and Patricia Terrazas will generously match online donations up to $300,000 in the afternoon.
Giving Daycaps off March is Red Cross Month, a time to recognize the people who make the Red Cross mission possible – volunteers, blood donors, people trained in lifesaving skills and our supporters – who step up to aid others when #HelpCantWait.
Red Cross Monthis a national tradition that began in 1943, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the first Red Cross Month proclamation—and each U.S. president has followed since. In Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp signed a proclamation declaring March as Red Cross Month. The Georgia House and Senate issued resolutions. Proclamations were also signed in Gordon County, Bartow County and the City of Dalton. In Sandy Springs, the ‘King and Queen’ towers at I-285 and GA 400 were lit red during the first week of March.
Help Can’t Wait When Emergencies Strike. Volunteers comprise about 90% of the national Red Cross workforce to power its lifesaving mission, along with generous blood, platelet and financial donors; people trained in skills like first aid and CPR; and other supporters. Below are some of the ways that people from the community have delivered relief with the Red Cross in times of crisis:
- The Red Cross of Georgia has more than 2,800 active volunteers. In fiscal year 2023, many of those volunteers assisted over 13,700 people affected by disasters, nearly 11,400 of them in home fires.
- The Red Cross of Georgia helped more than 350 people impacted by the fire at the Reserve at LaVista Walk apartment complex in November 2023.
- In the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia, the Red Cross of Georgia served nearly 7,500 households impacted by the storm.
- Donors in Georgia gave nearly 175,000 units of blood and blood products in fiscal year 2023.
- More than 88,200 people in the state were trained in first aid, CPR, AED and water safety courses during fiscal year 2023.
