We are all well aware of the great work The American Red Cross volunteers do in emergency disaster situations both at home and abroad. Who can forget the Tsunami that struck South East Asia or the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina? The American Red Cross has provided a great deal of assistance to those people affected by these terrible natural disasters. Unfortunately, it is sometimes easy to forget about the ways in which The American Red Cross is making a difference in our local communities. Seeing volunteers working to help others can be found right inside local communities .

The American Red Cross Chapter of Greater Illinois has already helped more than 75 families recover from disasters since the start of this year by providing emergency accommodation, food, and clothes among other things. This level of support would not be possible without donations and assistance of volunteers from members of the local community .

You may be wondering what you can do to help . The American Red Cross gratefully receives all manner of donations from blood, food, clothes, and even donations of cars. You may find the last item surprising but donated cars are sold and the profits are then used to fund relief programs both locally and nationally. So next time you decide to buy a new car, why not make a car donation to The American Red Cross? You never know who you could be helping .

And speaking of helping, the Greater Illinois Chapter of The American Red Cross has established a unique project called the BookMobile program. This program helps young children to improve their reading skills by providing books to kids’ Title I schools at no cost to either the schools or the children. This program helps provide 3 books a year to 3000 students in the Greater Illinois area . Programs such as these are only possible because of donations made to The American Red Cross.