Rally Your Employees Around a Common Cause

The Red Cross touches so many lives around you but most people never realize it. In South Carolina, 1 in 4 individuals are touched every day with our services; we respond to a disaster every 3.9 hours. Those disasters are the ones you don’t hear about. You hear about the hurricanes, earthquakes, and the devastating tornadoes across the country. What you don’t see on the news though is the family that loses everything they own to a home fire. But to that family, what someone may consider a small disaster is just as big as a hurricane.

Angela Johnson, a Lieutenant for the City of North Charleston Police Department, volunteered the story of when her parents lost their home to a fire in 2014. The American Red Cross was there to help.

“Red Cross volunteers showed up at 1:30 in the morning to not only assist my family, but also their family members who were visiting from out of town for the Thanksgiving Holiday. The Red Cross put them up in a hotel, got medications for them and gave them vouchers and gift cards to Walmart and Goodwill to help replace some of the items they lost in the fire. Thank you so much for all the Red Cross has done for my family.”-Angela Johnson

Those families lose everything – clothing, household items, electronics, and, most importantly, their family memories. Those are the possessions you can’t replace. The Red Cross is the only social services organization that shows up to the scene of a disaster to help that family move forward; whether it’s assisting with getting new clothes, shoes and food for their family, putting a roof over their head, replacing medications or mental health counseling to help cope with the loss.

Your employees, like many Americans, turn to the Red Cross when they want to help those in need. Those that lost their possessions in a fire, those needing blood for a transfusion, or military personnel that need emergency communications about loved ones back home. Your employees give blood, make financial donations to help their community thrive, and they take First Aid/CPR classes to be ready when an emergency strikes. You can support their enthusiasm for our mission. Through workplace giving and engagement, it’s easy to help your employees come together around a cause.

Many companies have large annual campaigns when they encourage their employees to give back to their communities and to organizations they truly have a passion for.  Employees can donate through payroll deductions or one time gifts.  Each company campaign is different but we strongly encourage companies to highlight their work with the Red Cross during these periods in order to encourage their employees to give.

With turnkey workplace giving campaign tools and resources - including secure, co-branded online donation sites – the Red Cross makes it easy for companies to generate enthusiasm and create stronger teams united by a shared commitment.

During an annual Workplace Giving Campaign, you can drive participation rates by featuring the Red Cross; a trusted and respected brand with high regard, broad reach and a breadth of employee engagement opportunities. If you would like to give your employees the opportunity to support the Red Cross as part of your campaign, please contact Ashleigh Ress at 843-764-2323 x359 or ashleigh.ress@redcross.org and we can show you how easy it is.

Disasters don’t discriminate. You never know when a disaster will strike. You do know that no matter when or where, the Red Cross will be there.