As of Monday, October 10, the Santa Monica chapter of the Red Cross had collected $1,003,758 locally for hurricane relief, and about 226 hurricane victims, including about 65 children, have relocated to the Santa Monica area and have sought help from the Santa Monica chapter.
“Long-term housing and employment opportunities continue to be our most pressing needs,” says Ann Greenspun, Board Chair of the Santa Monica Red Cross. “These offers of assistance are crucial as many of our clients are nearing the end of their allotted hotel stays. After all they have been through, we don’t want these families to have to move back into shelters.”
“$92,410 has been issued by our chapter for direct financial aid to displaced persons for their immediate needs such as food, clothing, medicine, and short-term lodging expenses,” said chapter Executive Director, John Pacheco.
To offer help or learn more, e-mail offersofassistance @ redcrossofsantamonica.org, or call (310) 394-3773.
Nationally, the American Red Cross has received approximately $1.15 billion in gifts and pledges to date. It is still estimated that hurricane relief efforts will exceed $2 billion in the months ahead.
To date, 83 volunteers from this area have been deployed to disaster relief locations, primarily in the Gulf Coast area.
Thus far, the chapter has trained 1145 volunteers, the training is ongoing, and individuals are still being deployed for disaster relief assignments. Residents are encouraged to call the Red Cross of Santa Monica at (310) 394-3773, or visit www . redcrossofsantamonica . org to sign up for the training.Those needing assistance can drop by the American Red Cross of Santa Monica, 1450 11th Street (at Broadway), Santa Monica, CA 90401 or phone: (310) 394-3773. For the Hurricane Katrina information Hotline, call: (866) 733-5010.
