The Southeastern Michigan Chapter is on standby to send volunteers and Staff as needed.

We currently have volunteers and staff stationed in Alabama and Tennessee to aid in clean up and mental health services.

The top priority right now is to provide food, shelter and emotional support for people whose lives have been disrupted by these tornadoes that divested neighborhoods in Missouri, Minnesota and other parts of the Midwest.

· Red Cross workers opened shelters in the damaged areas within hours and provided people with food and water and a safe place to stay.

· Red Cross emergency response vehicles in Missouri responded immediately and more vehicles are on the way to help distribute food, water and relief supplies in the affected neighborhoods.

· Red Cross workers are being deployed and relief materials, including personal hygiene items like toothbrushes and shampoo, tarps, coolers, rakes and other clean-up supplies, are now being sent to Joplin, Missouri.

· Trained health services and mental health workers are enroute to areas affected by the tornadoes to help people cope in the aftermath of these tragic storms.

People should register on the Red Cross Safe and Well website to let loved ones know they are safe by visiting www.redcross.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

· People in the affected areas can list themselves as “safe and well” on the site. Friends and family outside the disaster area can then search for messages from their loved ones by using a pre-disaster phone number or complete address.

· Disaster victims can also update their Facebook and Twitter status through the Safe and Well website.

· From a smart phone, visit www.redcross.org/safeandwell and click on the “List Yourself as Safe and Well” or “Search for friends and family” link.

Please consider making a donation today to help the thousands of people who have been affected by these disasters.

· Visit www.redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

· Contributions may also be sent to your local Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013.

· Any donation, large or small, will help. For example, $3 can provide a comfort kit for someone in a disaster. $6 can cover the cost of a blanket, $10 the cost of a hot meal.

Thousands of Red Cross workers have been working tirelessly to help people in need, responding to the tornadoes that occurred over the weekend, helping people along the Mississippi River and continuing to help people in areas where tornadoes wiped out entire communities in April.

The Red Cross is helping thousands of people today and will still be providing assistance in the weeks to come.
Red Cross workers have shelters open in Missouri, Minnesota, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and in Wisconsin, Montana and New York.
The Red Cross is working closely with government and community officials to make sure people’s needs are met.
The need for emotional support in these states can’t be underestimated. These areas have been hit by multiple disasters over the past year, and today the Red Cross has trained workers canvassing neighborhoods, helping people cope with the latest tragedy.