The American Red Cross provides immediate emergency assistance to the victims of everything from house fires to severe storms. Disaster victims need essential items right away, such as food, shelter and mental health counseling. In order to respond to anyone with disaster-caused needs whenever and wherever a disaster occurs, the Red Cross must have money available immediately.  This emergency resource is provided through fundraising efforts by your local Porter County American Red Cross.

Most Americans are aware of the services provided by the Red Cross to support large disasters like hurricanes, wildfires and tornados. However, the Red Cross not only responds to these large, highly-visible disasters, but to thousands of smaller disasters in communities across the country, every day; disasters that can affect all people, like house and apartment fires and other storms.

The Red Cross responds to disasters of all kinds--single family fires, winter storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding and earthquakes. The Red Cross supports communities after events that force people to evacuate, separate family members, damage or destroy homes, and injure or even kill people. Disaster response is initiated when the range and level of immediate suffering and basic human needs cannot be promptly or adequately addressed by the affected people, and when those affected are prevented from initiating and proceeding with recovery efforts on their own.