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The American Red Cross has an active
program of Services to the Armed Forces (SAF)If you are part
of a family of someone serving in any of the Armed Forces, or know a
family who is, you might want to learn more about the Granite
Chapter’s services to military families for helping them through
challenging times.
While serving 1.4 million active duty
personnel and their immediate family members, the Red Cross also
reaches out to the more than 1.2 million members of the National
Guard/Reserves and their immediate family members who reside in
nearly every community in America. Around the clock and around the
globe, during times of personal crisis, the Red Cross keeps the
American people in touch with their family members serving in the
U.S. military with:
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Emergency
communication services.
The Red Cross is a lifeline to members of the U.S. Armed Forces,
sending communications all over the world on behalf of family
members who are facing emergencies or other important events. The
Red Cross provides this service quickly through a network of
chapters, communication centers and staff members serving on
military installations and major deployment sites worldwide. This
network links military personnel any place in the world (including
ships at sea, embassies and isolated military units) with their
loved ones. The information in the message assists the command to
make a valid decision regarding emergency leave. In FY07, the Red
Cross provided 648,920 emergency communication services to military
families worldwide.
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Outreach to members
of the National Guard/Reserves and their families.
Today’s military families—active duty, National Guard, or
Reserve—are spread across the U.S. and the world. Many live far from
military installations and the support services they offer—but few
are far from a Red Cross chapter. The Red Cross is uniquely
positioned to harness the humanitarian power of our presence in 760
local chapters and 58 military installations overseas, and combine
it with our expertise in helping families in emergencies, in ways
that can address the unique and unmet needs of today’s military
service members and their families. Through our “Get to Know Us”
program offered at Military Entrance and Processing Stations,
service members learn that they or their family can call
877-272-7337 day or night for help or support.
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Social services
including access to financial assistance for food, temporary
housing, emergency travel and medical care. We excel at calm and
compassionate counseling and family support. And, when needed, we
can assist in representation at the Board of Veterans Appeals.
·
Staff members who
deploy overseas along with
members of the military and handle emergency communications. Red
Cross staff and volunteers offer respite from harsh conditions and
bring a little bit of home to the troops by operating a 24-hour
canteen service with coffee, cold drinks, snacks, games, videos and
books. Red Cross teams also visit patients in clinics and hospitals.
·
Family support
groups at many Red Cross
chapters and stations. Here family members can be with others who
are also learning to cope with separation and about community
resources that can help them.
How to access Red Cross
assistance
·
Active duty service
members stationed in the United States and their immediate family
members may call the Red Cross Service to Armed Forces Centers for
help 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year via the
toll-free number 1-877-272-7337. Military personnel stationed
overseas should contact the base or installation operator or the
on-base Red Cross office.
·
Other family members
who do not reside in the service members' household, members of the
National Guard and Reserves, retirees and civilians may access Red
Cross services through their local Red Cross Granite Chapter at
1-800-464-6692, or online at
http://www.redcross.org/where/where.html
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Col.
Donald Dupuis and SSG Barbara-lee Valente from the
National Guard-NH visited with those attending the
chapter’s Annual Meeting in June 2008. The meeting
focused on the chapter’s partnership with the military
in helping families of the Armed Forces.
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