Wednesday, October 3, 2001
|
Wednesday, October 3, 2001 |
|
Local residents do their part for relief effort The Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon brought about many results and responses. Americans witnessed death, horror and destruction and reacted in myriad ways, but the common thread throughout everyone's response was the overwhelming gifts to help those directly affected by the disaster. Citizens in the south metro area, through the American Red Cross, have played an important part in this unprecedented effort. "It's been very inspiring to see the tremendous outpouring of donations from people here in our area," said Ruben Brown, American Red Cross, South Metro Service Center director. "Thousands of donors, giving blood and money, all to help Americans they will most likely never meet is something for which we at the Red Cross will be forever grateful." Brown also noted that all donations to the Red Cross are put to immediate use helping victims and their families. "People should know their money is already hard at work helping those in need," he said. Metro Atlanta Red Cross donations, which include those from Clayton, Fayette, Henry and Butts Counties, totaled more than 20,000 units of blood three times the response that officials hoped for when setting local goals for the 10 days following Sept. 11. During that same period, financial donations have empowered the Red Cross to provide 1,019,420 meals and snacks; set up 54 shelters for almost 3,700 people; send 70 emergency response vehicles from around the country to the two disaster sites and coordinate and support the efforts of more than 13,700 volunteers. "With the help of many volunteers, we also provided aid to hundreds of stranded travelers, helped with funerals and other unexpected expenses and provided mental health and grief counseling to more than 18,900 people so far," said Brown. "Of course, those statistics are national ones, but local donors should know that they have been a vital part of this magnificent effort. Those of us from the Red Cross are extremely grateful for their boundless generosity." The need for recovery assistance will last for a long time, according to Red Cross officials. There will be a continuing need for blood and monetary donations. For blood donor information, call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE. Monetary donations can be made by calling 1-800-HELP-NOW or visiting the Red Cross Web site: www.redcrossatlanta.org. Current blood donor locations also are listed online.
|
||