Red Cross Annual Report 1956

[Music] August 18th East Coast storm Flags crackle in the first breath of Hurricane Diane weather advisory for boating August 18th in Michigan and 40 other states blood donors keep their appointments at Red Cross Blood Centers because today tomorrow someone somewhere will need blood to live situation normal in the East anxious eyes gauge Diane strength in increasing Red Cross volunteers train as nurses AIDS they will help nurses and doctors in Hospitals and Clinics situation normal by now Diane shows all the violent characteristics of a fullscale hurricane damage multiplies a August 18th in Chattanooga Tennessee and a thousand other places Red Cross teaches children and adults how to swim and handle small craft they learn first aid techniques that protect and save lives situation normal August 18th Diane drenches the Northeast with rain a delug rolls over the land and thus Begins the worst disaster year in American history voices chatter wires hum the red cross trained and alerted for disaster summons its resources of Manpower and supplies disaster Specialists and volunteers as the waters rise with unbelievable Fury and volume peaceful Connecticut and massachusett streets become roaring rivers of Destruction for New England it is catastrophe unparalleled there is no way to stop it there is no way to avoid it and now is the time when training in first aid and rescue means life the young the old the ill and the injured and even the able-bodied rely on the skill of others trained to save them loss of life is surprisingly and gratefully [Music] small property loss is tremendous normal facilities are gone people do the best they can to help themselves but there is little they can do even to provide the basic necessities of life Red Cross shelters are established in schools churches community centers now is the time Red Cross volunteers trained in emergency Mass feeding Stave off the hunger of thousands both young and [Music] old Red Cross disaster nurses and trained volunteer nurses AIDS help doctors in the battle against typhoid clean fresh drinking water is brought in from unaffected areas or in polluted water lies the threat of [Music] epidemic where is my mother have you seen my son was my family hurt queries pour in from the ravaged areas and from every corner of the land Red Cross two-way emergency communications must be expanded to answer these questions food emergency Medical Care a place of warmth for rest and sleep that is a Red Cross shelter meeting in Hartford with the governors of the stricken States President Eisenhower says to the nation Red Cross money goes to people who are in need to human beings not for cleaning roads and rebuilding schools but to people who are hungry who are cold and have no place to go [Music] e the water subsides leaving a kind of paralysis the enormity of their loss comes through to people the task of trying to rebuild their lives their homes their business their Town staggers them where to begin what to do how do you go home Peace by piece people work to reassemble their lives there is a beginning in the salvaged pot and pans no not not everything is lost mud silt and gravel lay over the towns like a gummy shroud there's only one way out shovel full by shovel full you dig heavy equipment provided by government and Private Industry clear the roads and streets the cleanup progresses the Red Cross continues to meet the basic daily needs of the people shelters remain open canteens both stationary and mobile feed the hungry more trained disaster workers from all over the country arrive to help the thousands of volunteers who have been on the scene from the beginning additional food and medical supplies continue to arrive the emergency is overcome now comes the biggest job of the Red Cross in Disaster Assistance after the emergency many of the flood sufferers have few if any resources for rebuilding a cherished home or reestablishing a small business and now is the time when the American people through their Red Cross provide their most effective Aid to the citizens of a stricken area as soon as those needing assistance after the emergency have made their applications trained Red Cross workers plan individually with each family to determine basic needs and the families ability to help itself the needs are varied no two quite alike it may be household Furnishings House repair a new home possibly in a new and safer location it could be the tools of livelihood or the restocking of a small store but they must be met and quickly each case is prepared confidentially to determine the amount needed above the family's own resources such awards are an outright gift from the American people who contribute to the Red Cross when the plan is complete it is submitted by number to an advisory committee of their own townsmen to well remember August 18th once the award is agreed upon the job of restoring the families to normal living Begins by early October the flood has long since left the headlines and the biggest part of the Red Cross job is well underway in other parts of the country the Red Cross carries out its responsibility for other basic programs important among these are its Aid and guidance to men in the armed forces at home and overseas and to their families in times of personal or financial [Music] difficulty bringing help and comfort to the recreation rooms and Wards of military and veterans hospitals or assisting doctors and Hospital technicians in their clinical work there is the never-ending responsibility of providing blood and blood derivatives without charge to almost half the nation's [Music] hospitals Junior Red Cross interesting the young people of the country through their schools in programs of community service International understanding and Leadership training and teaching thousands of young people and adults the techniques of effective Home Care the sick or prospective parents the find details of infant and Child Care by mid November through the ravaged area of the northeastern states people resume the normal pattern of their [Music] lives resettled apartment dwellers become accustomed to their new locations and new furniture many of those who home suffered damage are hoping to spend Thanksgiving under their own roofs is this just a new house or is it more than that consider the joy of an elderly retired couple who thought life was ended for them when their little home the work of a lifetime was washed away yet today in comfort and security they can resume their normal habits including a running card game that has lasted for 20 years the wife has kept careful track of just how much her husband owes her could there be more gratification to a contributor than to know the feeling in the hearts of these people and the fact that a family is restored about 80% of all Red Cross disaster relief monies are used in this way the work of the advisory committee so concerned with individuals and families contributes to the recovery of the entire Community part of which means help for the small business businessman new stock for the hardware store equipment for the shoe maker tools for the watchmaker and oven and fixtures for the pizza Baker all are important to this town they help make it a self-sufficient integrated unit of living it makes no difference where disaster strikes on the Red Cross Maps there are no areas off limits no time is inconvenient no call for Aid goes unheeded this means a state of Readiness that can only be effective through endless work ample financial and physical resources and willing volunteer [Music] aid for thousands of families in eastern United States like this young Hartford family of 8 Christmas 1954 five has a special meaning for their home and many others built with red cross funds will always be a living testimonial to the neighborliness Americans field for each other Christmas a time when we think of peace and Good Will among men good will [Music] certainly peace not quite for at this very moment disaster strikes again floods in California their worst disaster since the San Francisco earthquake and again the Red Cross locally and nationally mobilizes to help the stricken thousands catastrophe in the East catastrophe in the west the worst disaster year in American history Red Cross disaster expenditures reach an alltime high of more than $27 million but nature keeps no books neither in money nor human suffering disaster can and will strike again east west north south the Red Cross must be always must be ready to come to the aid of people in distress anywhere [Music] anytime [Music]