Your gifts, their story: how you helped, after Hurricane Sandy and Richmond Hill explosion

At this moment, many of us are looking at the screen of our computer or iPad in the comfort of our home or office. The lights are on, we just finished a meal, and if we listen closely we can hear music playing or heat blowing in the background.

Simple enough, things we take for granted every day. For those in the Richmond Hill area, these are things that disappeared suddenly and without warning in the middle of the night. For many on the East coast these are luxuries that have been gone for weeks.

As we reflect on the holiday season, the volunteers and staff at the American Red Cross of Greater Indianapolis are grateful for the support of our local community that allows us to be there when the unexpected happens to care for those in need.

The American Red Cross is a volunteer-led nonprofit organization that depends entirely on donations to make our lifesaving mission possible. Funding provided through United Way of Central Indiana is the cornerstone of our community support. A few ways this support has helped the Red Cross respond to Hurricane Sandy and the recent explosion on the south side include:

Training programs

• We continuously recruit new volunteers. Experienced volunteers conduct training and mentor newer members. Contributions from United Way help make this training possible so when disaster strikes, trained and caring people are prepared, equipped and ready to help. Whether the disaster is down the street or across the country, Red Cross volunteers from Greater Indianapolis are ready to go at a moment’s notice.

Food

• Payroll contributions of $6 a week (just over $1/daily or about $300 annually) provide 30 people with a day of hot meals in a disaster zone.

Shelter

• Giving $4 a week (about $200 a year) covers the cost of sheltering four disaster victims for an entire day. This includes providing a safe place to stay, clean blankets, food and emotional support.

Clothing

• $3 a week (about $130 a year) helps to replace clothing and shoes for one disaster victim.

Health and mental health needs

• Volunteer nurses and mental health professionals are on the ground locally and on the East coast meeting the needs of disaster victims. Your contributions make possible their training and deployment.

These are only a few of the many ways your contributions make a huge impact. The situations in which our clients find themselves are usually not their fault and are beyond comprehension to most of us. When a house catches fire in the middle of the night or a Hurricane makes landfall on the coast, the American Red Cross is there because you are and you care.

Your contribution to United Way of Central Indiana provides shelter to the person who has, in an instant become homeless. It provides warm food to the person with none, and warm and protective clothing to the person who has just seen their life’s work go up in flames or swept out to sea. By extending a helping hand to one we improve the condition of all. Thank you for your support of American Red Cross by giving, advocating and volunteering. LIVE UNITED!

--Rocky Buffum, grants officer, American Red Cross Indianapolis Region

Editor's note: Undesignated gifts to United Way of Central Indiana's annual campaign help ensure that people who experience disaster have the basic needs to recover, through programs and services offered by American Red Cross of Greater Indianapolis and The Salvation Army. Since 1958, United Way has invested more than $83.6 million helping people through the Red Cross. That includes grants of more than $2.9 million for capital, maintenance and technology improvements from funds contributed specifically for such needs. The agency’s 2012/2013 Community Fund allocation is $1,141,303.

LIVE UNITED: My top 5 memories from families we’ve adopted through United Christmas Service

At CNO Financial Group, we’ve been adopting families from United Christmas Service every year since 1988. We started with four families, but for a very long time now we have adopted 40 each year. Providing holiday cheer for that many can provide logistical challenges. But it does provide even more holiday-spirit filled memories. Here are my top five memories from the last five years. Why not make some of your own memories his year?

5. Heroes in training. Our associates get their families involved every year. I have watched little girls and boys wrapping gifts, hauling toilet paper and paper towels and laughing and smiling the whole time they worked for kids who have less than they do. It warms my heart to see the next generation of volunteers learning about what’s really important.

4. Bedbugs. One year a team captain realized that the family they were working with had a problem with bedbugs. The children had bites all over their bodies. Instead of just being sad about the situation, our team connected the family with free extermination services. This truly changed that family's daily living conditions.

3. True tragedy. Between the time one family became eligible for Christmas Service help and the time they were assigned to our company, our team caption learned one of the sons had died. My associate renewed my Christmas spirit when he told me, "This just means I have to go the extra mile to make the family's holiday the best I can."

2. Family in crisis. One of the families we adopted had been evicted, so they moved in with relatives. When our team contacted the family, he learned they had moved because of a relative's inappropriate behavior. They struggled with finding a living situation that worked. This family still had small children who believed in Santa. Our team delivered the gifts in large bags so they could be hidden until Christmas morning. The family had a rough year, but a great Christmas.

1. A new home. Because of a house fire, last year, one of our families had recently lost everything. They moved to a new apartment, and their church donated furniture, but they had nothing else. Our team supplied dishes, bedding and housewares on top of a robust Christmas. When they delivered the gifts, the children presented each of my colleagues a poster with their photos to thank them. A year later, each of these team members still has their poster hanging by their desk.

I believe I work with angels on earth. If these stories touched your heart, I urge you to put together a program at your company. There is never a shortage of families to adopt, and it takes such a small commitment to make such a big difference.

--Media Oakes, corporate communications, CNO Financial