Red Cross Youth

The American Red Cross has announced that during this weekend’s games, September 14-15, the National Football League will encourage donations to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. The Disaster Relief Fund supports the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year, disasters like the hurricanes of 2008, and enables the Red Cross to provide disaster victims with shelter, food, counseling and other assistance.

Information on how to support the Red Cross will be provided during on-air broadcasts by the NFL’s network partners, NFL.com and via in-stadium announcements. The Red Cross will be asking for donations via its Text 2HELP™ Initiative, a cooperative partnership between the Red Cross and the Wireless Foundation. Text 2HELP allows subscribers of participating wireless carriers to donate $5 simply by texting “GIVE” to 24357 (2HELP). The donations appear on customers’ monthly bills or will be debited from prepaid account balances. Standard text messaging rates may apply.

The American Red Cross is responding to a record number of tornadoes this year, the worst flooding in the central US in 15 years, an early wildfire season and is in the midst of responding to and preparing for hurricanes, including Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which is threatening states along the Gulf Coast. Hurricane Gustav, which made landfall on September 1, is estimated to cost an estimated $40 - $70 million. While the perception is the Gulf Coast dodged a bullet from Hurricane Gustav, the reality is the Red Cross is still on the ground feeding and sheltering those who returned to find their homes damaged or without power. An active hurricane season, coupled with other disasters, has led to a depleted Disaster Relief Fund.

Every Red Crosser can get involved in this campaign. Here are some ideas to spread the word:

o Forward the Text 2Help message to your network of friends and associates, including your clubs and volunteers, asking them to send along to their contacts.

Sample e-mail to send to friends and family:

Hello! I wanted to make you aware of an exciting new way to help disaster victims simply by using your cell phone. You can donate $5 to American Red Cross disaster relief efforts simply by text messaging the keyword “GIVE” to “2HELP” (24357). Depending on your carrier, you can donate multiple times. Donations will appear on your monthly bills or be debited from a prepaid account balance. Standard text messaging rates apply. You can learn more by visiting RedCross.org.

PS. Please pass along to your friends. If you are a football fan, be on the look out this weekend as the National Football League will be helping to promote Text 2HELP.

o Posting a message about the campaign, the Text 2HELP banner ad or Text 2HELP PSAs on your blog, web page or social media pages. This widget is available for download and for sharing and distributing across social networking sites.

o Send a message to your friends on Twitter: Text2Help! Text “GIVE” to “24357” on your cell phone to donate $5 to the American Red Cross. http://tinyurl.com/3zlm8p