Red Cross Awards Nearly $6 million in Grants to Six Groups for Superstorm Sandy Recovery

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Red Cross has awarded almost $6 million in grants to several national non-profit organizations to help support their efforts to assist people impacted by Superstorm Sandy.

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The latest Red Cross grants are to the following organizations to support their Sandy recovery programs:

• The Salvation Army - $2.5 million to provide direct assistance to clients for unmet recovery and housing needs.
• Save the Children - $1.5 million for child care restoration programs and psycho-social support programs in New York and New Jersey.
• Church of the Brethren - Brethren Disaster Ministries - $280,100 for repairing and rebuilding 75 homes in New York and New Jersey.
• National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. - $506,056 for providing direct assistance and health/mental health services.
• Church World Service - $305,395 for interagency support.
• HOPE worldwide - $704,000 for volunteer management and coordination and youth programs in New York and New Jersey.

"No one organization can do everything to help people recover from a storm of this magnitude," said Jerry DeFrancisco, president of Humanitarian Services at the Red Cross. "Recovery from something like Sandy takes time and help from many different groups in the community. Through the generosity of our donors, we are pleased to support the programs of these partners through these grants, and to continue to work with them to help people as they rebuild their lives."

"Recovery from a disaster of this magnitude is a long-term process for which survivors need support for months, possibly years, after an event as devastating as Hurricane Sandy," said Major Ron Busroe, national community relations and development secretary for The Salvation Army in the United States. "Once immediate recovery needs were met, The Salvation Army has been able to focus on providing necessary long-term material, physical, and spiritual support to those in need. Collaborative partnerships like this allow relief efforts to not only be efficient and effective, but to ensure that survivors get the help they need, for as long as they need it."

"When disaster strikes, children are the most vulnerable—and the dangers don't fade away when the TV cameras leave," said Kathy Spangler, Save the Children's vice president of U.S. Programs. "Thousands of kids are still struggling with the upheaval Sandy brought into their young lives. These children need supportive, child-focused services to help them cope, and they need safe, restored child care centers to help them bounce back and continue their development. This grant will help make that possible."

Other Red Cross grants to national organizations working in multiple states on the Sandy recovery programs were to The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), Rebuilding Together, Lutheran Disaster Response, Catholic Charities USA, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR), Mennonite Disaster Services, World Renew, NECHAMA Jewish Response to Disaster, Habitat for Humanity International, Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Operation Hope, Points of Light and National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD).

Superstorm Sandy has been the largest Red Cross relief effort in the United States in five years. More than 17,000 trained Red Cross workers served more than 17 million meals and snacks; distributed more than 7 million relief items and provided more than 74,000 overnight stays in shelters. The Red Cross continues to help people impacted by the storm today through casework, case management, direct financial assistance to families, and grants to other nonprofit organizations.

Organizations receiving the Red Cross Sandy grants are using the funds for things like repairing and rebuilding homes, direct financial assistance for some of those impacted by Sandy, volunteer programs, interagency coordination and other long-term recovery support for people and communities impacted by Sandy in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and West Virginia.

The Red Cross already has spent or made commitments to spend $260 million for Sandy emergency relief and recovery programs, about 85 percent of the $307 million donated to the Red Cross for Sandy. The Red Cross expects that the remainder will go to its move-in assistance program, community resiliency programs and grants to other groups helping Sandy survivors. Overall, the Red Cross plans to allocate about a quarter of its Sandy funds for grants to organizations working in the communities to help Sandy survivors.

The Red Cross is committed to using money donated for Sandy to help the people affected by Sandy, and is working to spend those donations quickly and wisely. In addition to the grants to other groups, the Red Cross is working every day to help more people affected by this major storm through one-on-one meetings with storm survivors.

Donations to the Red Cross have helped families start over in a new place to live, enabled residents to clean out mold from their water-logged homes, given emotional support to those who have been put through so much, and provided financial support to people working to put their lives back together.

About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.

SOURCE American Red Cross