Here is a suggested email to send to your friends and family. Please feel free to personalize it, and to add information from redcross.org, redcrossyouth.org, etc.
Dear [Name],
As you know I am a volunteer with the American Red Cross. I am writing to personally ask for your help with an important effort. The toll of this year’s hurricane season has emptied our Disaster Relief Fund. Simply put, the cost of providing relief for victims of Hurricanes Ike and Gustav and other severe storms is outpacing incoming contributions.
Before Hurricane Ike’s strike, we were still on the ground aiding victims of Hurricane Gustav. To date we have opened over 900 evacuation centers/shelters, served 4.5 million meals and snacks, and deployed over 16,000 Red Cross volunteers. In one night alone we sheltered nearly 60,000 people. The response to Gustav and Ike has been one of the largest operations in Red Cross history – and we are still taking care of families in the Gulf region.
That’s why we need your help as we launch a national campaign to raise $100 million for the Disaster Relief Fund. Together, we can ensure the Red Cross is there to help, whenever and wherever disasters strike.
Any size donation will help. Just follow this link to Disaster Relief and you can become part of this great relief effort. Please feel free to forward this email to anyone who can help in our life-saving cause.
Best wishes,
[Your Name]
