America Red Cross to Deliver Flood Clean-Up Supplies to Families Hit Hardest by Flooding

America Red Cross to Deliver Flood Clean-Up Supplies to Families Hit Hardest by Flooding

MEDIA OPPORTUNITY:  Join a team of volunteers driving a Red Cross truck through the Village of Bellwood to distribute clean-up kits and supplies to families.

DATE: Today, Saturday, April 27

TIME: 11:00 a.m.

LOCATIONS:

• Mobile Location: Contact Patricia Kemp at 312-907-0520 for mobile routes. The caravan will stop at multiple home sites in the Bellwood community.

• Fixed Location: Village of Bellwood Municipal Building, 3200 Washington Blvd, Bellwood, IL 60104

CHICAGO, IL, April 27, 2013 – The American Red Cross of Greater Chicago this weekend is sending volunteers and trucks filled with cleaning supplies to neighborhoods in some of the hardest hit areas in the region to aid thousands of households recovering from the recent flooding.    

Volunteers operating emergency response vehicles, or ERVs, will drive through the neighborhoods handing out cleaning supplies to residents. The mobile distribution of clean-up kits begins Saturday and will continue for several days in impacted areas to reach more families whose homes sustained damage from flooding.

The kits are provided by the Red Cross at no charge and include supplies for both indoor and outdoor cleaning such as rakes, shovels, tarps, buckets, bleach, brooms, sponges, trash bags as well as personal safety items like rubber gloves.

The Red Cross began distributing thousands of cleaning items this week at more than 35 locations in eight counties at parks, police departments and other municipal sites. Call 312-729-6200 for a list of open distribution sites. Supplies are limited to first arrival. A Home Repair Guide is also available on the Red Cross web site at http://www.redcross.org/images/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m4340135_file_cont333_lang0_150.pdf.

Since the flooding began more than a week ago, the Red Cross has provided more than 8,000 meals and snacks to residents displaced from their homes in 11 shelters. Three shelters remain open in Wheeling, Des Plaines and Lisle for more than 100 residents who cannot safely return home. Hundreds of volunteers have worked around the clock the last nine days to aid the relief effort with additional volunteers arriving from across the nation to assist the Red Cross’ largest flood recovery operation in Illinois in more than 10 years. 

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 join our blog at blog.redcross.org.