Red Cross emergency response vehicles (ERVs) line up to get loaded with hot meals in Estero, FL. The Red Cross and partners have provided more than 1.7 million meals and snacks to people affected by Hurricane Ian. These ERVs would deliver the food to shelters and distribute meals in the impacted neighborhoods. At one point, more than 120 ERVs from all over the country were in Florida to support this massive feeding operation. Photo by Brad Zerivitz/American Red Cross

Nine weeks ago, Hurricane Ian came ashore in Florida with life-threatening flooding and powerful winds, leaving more than 20,000 homes either destroyed or suffering major damage. Over the last two months, tens of thousands of people have depended on the American Red Cross and other organizations for help and the Red Cross is still there, supporting them as they begin to recover from the devastating loss.

Spending these funds locally will also support local communities as they begin recovering. The Red Cross also provides financial assistance for verified, disaster-caused health and mental health needs; and in some cases, to help people move from shelters into longer term housing.

The Red Cross is providing emergency financial assistance to many of these households to help jumpstart their recovery. This financial assistance will allow people to make their own decisions and prioritize what their family needs most to start recovering. Funds can help families replace clothes or food, offset transportation costs, or support any other immediate need. Full information is available at www.redcross.org/Ian.

All Red Cross services, including financial assistance, are available to individuals regardless of nationality, race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, class or political opinions. The Red Cross is a charity, not a government agency, and people do not need to be American citizens to receive our help.

Red Cross financial assistance is not a loan and does not need to be repaid.

A disaster of this magnitude requires a team effort. The Red Cross is working closely with local officials, government agencies and other nonprofits to coordinate relief efforts and make recovery plans

RED CROSS RESPONSE Weeks later, more than 200 people are still in two Red Cross and partner shelters in Florida. Since shelters were opened for this disaster, the Red Cross and our partners have provided 58,000 overnight stays for more than 6,800 residents in more than 80 emergency shelters.

With the help of partners, more than 1.7 million meals and snacks and more than 404,000 relief items have been provided to people in the impacted areas.

Currently, there are some 700 trained Red Cross disaster workers still on the ground to provide recovery assistance to Floridians. Since September 23, more than 3,300 trained Red Cross disaster workers from across the country have supported this massive response effort.

YOU CAN HELP people affected by disasters like storms and countless other crises by making a gift to Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small. Visit redcross.org, call 800-RED-CROSS (800-733-2767), or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

CORPORATIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS HELP The generous donations from members of the Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) and the Disaster Responder Program enable the American Red Cross to prepare communities for disasters big and small, respond whenever and wherever disasters occur and help families during the recovery process.

ADGP $1M Members:

Amazon; American Airlines; Anheuser-Busch Foundation; Bank of America; Best Buy; Caterpillar Foundation; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Costco Wholesale; Delta Air Lines; Elevance Health Foundation; Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation; FedEx; Lilly Endowment Inc.; Lowe’s Companies, Inc.; McDonald’s Corporation; Microsoft Corp.; Nationwide Foundation; PayPal; PetSmart Charities; The Starbucks Foundation; State Farm; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited; Truist Foundation; VSP Vision; Walmart and the Walmart Foundation; and Wells Fargo.

ADGP $500K Members:

Altria Group; American Express; Aon; Bread Financial; Calmoseptine, Inc.; Capital One; CarMax; Citi Foundation; The Clorox Company; Darden Foundation; Delta Dental; Dollar General; Edison International; Energy Transfer/Sunoco Foundation; Ford Motor Company Fund; Fox Corporation; General Motors; Google.org; The Home Depot Foundation; International Paper; The J.M. Smucker Company; Johnson Controls Foundation; The Kroger Co. Foundation; Liberty Mutual Insurance; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Mastercard; Merck; Mondelēz International Foundation; New Balance Foundation; Organon; PepsiCo Foundation; Salesforce; Southeastern Grocers Gives Foundation & Southeastern Grocers, home of Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie; Stanley Black & Decker; Target; The TJX Companies, Inc.; Toyota; United Airlines; UPS; USAA; Visa Foundation; The Walt Disney Company; and The Wawa Foundation.

ADGP $250K Members:

7-Eleven Cares Foundation; Adobe; The AES Corporation; Ameriprise Financial; Assurant; AT&T; AvalonBay Communities, Inc.; Avangrid Foundation; Barclays; Big 5 Sporting Goods; CDW; Choice Hotels International; Cisco Foundation; CNA Insurance; The Coca-Cola Company; CSX; The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation; Discover; Duke Energy; Dutch Bros Foundation; Equitable; FirstEnergy Corporation; Gopuff; Harbor Freight Tools Foundation, LLC; HCA Healthcare; Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation; HP Foundation; Kaiser Permanente; Kimberly-Clark Corporation; The Kraft Heinz Company Foundation; The Labcorp Charitable Foundation; Lenovo Foundation; LHC Group; Major League Baseball; Marathon Petroleum Foundation, Inc.; Martin Marietta; Mattress Firm; McKesson Foundation; MetLife Foundation; Neiman Marcus Group; NextEra Energy, Inc.; Northrop Grumman; Northwestern Mutual; Old Dominion Freight Line; Pacific Life Foundation; Procter & Gamble; Prudential; Raytheon Technologies; Reckitt; Rodan + Fields Prescription for Change Project, a project of New Venture Fund; Ross Stores Foundation; Ryder System, Inc.; San Manuel Band of Mission Indians; Security Finance’s Lending Hand Foundation; ServiceNow; Southwest Airlines; Tata Consultancy Services; U-Haul International; U.S. Bank Foundation; and Zurich.

About the American Red Cross:

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.