United Way # 8019
CFC # 99248
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125 Years of Neighbors Helping Neighbors
Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was already flooded by 10 feet of water when the long-neglected South Fork Dam burst on May 31. The recreational lake behind the dam rushed out and formed into a thirty-foot wall of water that hurled toward Johnstown at 22 feet per second. The raging torrent swept up everything in its path, including trees, houses, animals, telegraph poles, train locomotives and railroad tracks and ties. This thirty-acre mass of 20 million tons of water and debris became caught under a bridge and eventually caught fire. Those victims who were not drowned were burned alive. The death toll has been estimated at more than 2,000.
Forty-eight hours after the disaster, Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, and a team of fifty doctors, nurses and relief workers arrived on the first train allowed through to Johnstown. They immediately set up feeding stations and provided unprecedented medical care through the nurses of the Philadelphia Red Cross Society. For the first time, the Red Cross set up mass shelters to house and feed the victims of a disaster. The Johnstown Flood was a major test for the Red Cross, challenging its ability to deal with a large-scale, human-caused catastrophe. The Red Cross continued working in Johnstown for five months after the flood and contacted and assisted 25,000 people.
“For five weary months it was our portion to live amid the scenes of destruction, desolation, poverty, want and woe; sometimes in tents, sometimes without; and so much rain and mud, and such lack of the commonest comforts for a time, until we could build houses to shelter ourselves and those around us. Without a safe and with a dry-goods box for a desk, we conducted financial affairs in money and material to the extent of nearly half a million dollars…” --Clara Barton, 1889
Clara Barton led the Red Cross, as a volunteer, for more than 20 years, setting the standard for voluntary service that continues to fuel the Red Cross. From its inception in 1881, the organization's actions have been guided by its dedication to humanity and a desire to promote mutual understanding, friendship, cooperation and a lasting peace.
Today, under that same trusted symbol, the American Red Cross provides help to countless people in need. Led by the work of volunteers, Red Cross chapters responded to almost 73,000 disasters last year—more than any year in our history. They taught almost 15 million people lifesaving skills, from first aid to swimming. More than 233,000 Americans gave up weeks, and sometimes months, volunteering for the Red Cross during Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Hundreds of thousands more gave their time to teach first aid, help neighbors after home fires, assist military families, and so much more.
More than 95 percent of all Red Cross workers are volunteers. That means that the smiling face that comforts you after a fire, teaches you how to save a life with CPR, or delivers an urgent message to a family member in the military, may belong to one of your own neighbors. A friend you didn’t know you had.
Red Cross volunteers may work for free, but they receive rewards far greater than money — they know in their hearts that they did the right thing, helped someone in need or shared a lifesaving skill. They know that they are part of something bigger than themselves. That explains why Red Cross services are provided free of charge — because they are a gift — straight from the heart. So long as generosity, caring and the willingness to extend a helping hand live in the American heart, the Red Cross will turn that compassion into action — today and over the next 125 years.
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