AMERICAN RED CROSS
"Oh northern mothers wives and sisters, all unconscious of the hour, would to Heaven that I could bear for you the concentrated woe which is so soon to follow, would that Christ would teach my soul a prayer that would plead to the Father for grace sufficient for you, God pity and strengthen you
every one."
-Clara Barton
AMERICAN RED CROSS
The American Red Cross (ARC) provides emergency aid, disaster relief, and preparedness education. ARC also coordinates blood and plasma donations and offers training services, such as CPR, First Aid, CAN training and more. ARC responds to emergencies every eight minutes, offering a quick response and aiding in the recovery process.
ARC was founded in 1881 by Clara Barton. Barton was a self-taught nurse during the American Civil War. Barton took it upon herself to provide medical aid, food and clothing to soldiers who had been attacked in the Baltimore Riot. Barton became dedicated to this mission and collected supplies for the soldiers, even working on the frontlines herself. Through this experience, Barton was inspired to create ARC as a service to go beyond helping soldiers in war by providing aid in natural disasters.
ARC responds to home fires, hurricane and flood relief, and other natural disasters. The organization also works with community leaders and officials to initiate recovery programs and services to those affected. Additionally, ARC supplies approximately 40% of the blood donated in the U.S.
CENTERED ON CHRIST
Barton was raised in the church and became a strong Christian woman. She was courageous and fought to do jobs that not many others would do, which inspired her to form the Red Cross. One of these jobs was being a nurse to the soldiers. While taking care of the Civil War soldiers, she wrote this in a letter to her cousin: “The moon is shining through the soft haze with a brightness almost prophetic. For the last half hour I have stood alone in the awful stillness of its glimmering light gazing upon the strange sad scene around me striving to say, ‘Thy will Oh God be done.’”
Barton felt sorrow for the dying soldiers around her and the women who would miss them when they died. Barton said, “Oh northern mothers wives and sisters, all unconscious of the hour, would to Heaven that I could bear for you the concentrated woe which is so soon to follow, would that Christ would teach my soul a prayer that would plead to the Father for grace sufficient for you, God pity and strengthen you every one.”
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