By Dan Pool
Helping with house fires and disasters is where the Red Cross is generally seen in action. Lately, however, it’s a second and mostly unknown duty, providing aid to military families, that has kept Red Cross phones ringing.
The Northeast Georgia Chapter, which serves Pickens and 12 other counties, averages three calls for military assistance per day, according to Andy Thompson, Director of Community Services for the chapter.
As the Red Cross chapter’s fiscal year winds down, they have handled more than 600 calls involving service to the military in the past 12 months.
Thompson said prior to the war in Iraq, the chapter usually received between 12 to 15 military calls per month. But that has escalated with the number of people now serving in Iraq and the poor economy back home. Thompson said there have been 19 cases of direct military aid to Pickens families since July 2008.
The assistance comes in many forms. The simplest is the Red Cross’ duty to relay word of family emergencies to soldiers overseas.
Thompson said when tragedy strikes at home, it’s often up to the Red Cross to get word to the soldier, especially if they are in a war zone or not available through normal channels. With greatly expanded Internet communication available to soldiers and families today, these simple calls are decreasing.
Along with this communication duty, the Red Cross is also involved in arranging for soldiers to return home when they have close relatives who are gravely ill or for funerals of family members.
Thompson said it is always up to a doctor to give a prognosis which determines whether a soldier can return home to be with an ill relative, but it’s up to the Red Cross to handle the communications.
“The military doesn’t take calls from momma or daddy saying someone is sick, and their son needs to come home,” he said. “The Red Cross is seen as the verification of a claim of family emergency.” Thompson said these calls are also noted as “time is of the essence.”
A second form of assistance that is increasing and costly is providing financial assistance.
Thompson said with the poor economy a lot of military families are stretched thin. His chapter receives numbers of calls for help with mortgages and other needs. He said typically they will help with a single mortgage payment, but it’s a case-by-case basis. They do not offer continuing payments in any event.
They will also offer loans for plane tickets if someone needs to return home, and the soldier doesn’t have the money for a ticket.
Thompson said since the Red Cross has offices on military bases, it’s often assumed the organization is financed through the military budget, which is not true.
According to Thompson, the local chapter draws from the same pool of funds applied to victims of storms and fires to make the military assistance available.
He said this is a hard area to raise funds for the Red Cross, because most people don’t even know the services they provide. “If you weren’t in the military, you probably weren’t even aware the Red Cross did this,” he said.
“When there is a fire, we have pictures of the house and names of the family, which helps with the fundraising,” he said. “But for the military cases, it’s out of sight and out of mind.”
Thompson said $5,000 in donations would cover Pickens County’s needs in this area, and donors can specify if they want their donations earmarked for military assistance. Compared to the whole budget of the Northeast Georgia chapter of the Red Cross, $5,000 isn’t a huge amount. But the military assistance area is one they get few direct donations to, Thompson indicated. With all Red Cross donations, if the money comes from Pickens County, it is coded to be spent in Pickens County, Thompson said.
Donations can be sent to The Red Cross, 1266 E. Church Street, Suite 154, Jasper Ga, 30143. For more information call 706-253-7333.
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