March 2001

In honor of National Red Cross Month, March 2001, GuideStar salutes nonprofits that assist the victims of natural and manmade disasters.

Disaster can disrupt people's lives in a matter of minutes. When it does, nonprofits are there to help.

• Lightening ignites a fire in a Northwestern forest. Soon volunteer firefighters from several states are traveling to the scene, where they work tirelessly to prevent the blaze from spreading.
• As a hurricane batters the Southern coastline, nonprofit employees and volunteers feed evacuees gathered at a local school. Meanwhile, volunteer radio operators provide vital communications services, and an animal rescue group cares for the pets of those who have had to seek emergency shelter.
• In the Midwest, a nonprofit gives rent money to a family whose home was destroyed by a tornado. Another organization supplies clothing for the entire family and school supplies for the children. A food bank furnishes a month's worth of food for the household.
• Far from the United States, American volunteers and their dogs search for earthquake survivors. In another country, employees of a U.S. charity deliver medicine to a camp where individuals who have fled political or ethnic strife have taken refuge.

Whether a disaster is natural or manmade, whether it strikes in America or overseas, you can be sure that U.S. nonprofits will be there to assist the victims.

This article was based on information in the GuideStar database.

Suzanne E. Coffman, March 2001
© 2001, Philanthropic Research, Inc.