2016 a Busy Year for the American Red Cross

Claire Rubin who blogs at Recovery Diva shared the facts below that she got from the American Red Cross' Headquarters. These are impressive numbers when you think about what it would take to accomplish these tasks. In Claire's posting, she noted how they have come under fire in the past for their performance in disasters. 

I'm not one throw rocks, since I live in a glass house myself. You try facing the challenges of "delivering the goods" under less than perfect circumstances and see how you measure up.

2016 Disaster Stats

* American Red Cross has responded to 15 major disasters already in 2016, so far 50% more than last year (i.e., N. Texas tornadoes, Louisiana floodings, WV floodings, Hurricane Matthew, California wildfires, etc.)
* Since January, volunteers and staff have responded with extraordinary efforts including:
- More than 191,000 overnight stays provided in 604 shelters
- More than 3.6 million meals and snacks
- More than 1.8 million relief items distributed
- More than 27,000 cases opened to provide one-on-one support
* The Red Cross estimates response efforts in 2016 will collectively cost nearly $87 million — but as of Oct. 26, we’ve only raised $53 million to cover these events — a gap of nearly $34 million.
* Already this year, the Red Cross has assigned 26,478, compared to 15,840 in 2015 and 9,923 in 2015.
* Since June 2012 when the Red Cross launched its 1st app, there have been 9.2 million downloads of the now 13 mobile apps available.