Hawai‘i Red Cross Volunteers Deploy to Puerto Rico

In response to the three back-to-back hurricanes—Harvey, Irma and Maria—15Hawai‘i Red Cross volunteers from the Big Island have deployed thus far.

Six Hawai‘i Red Cross volunteers are deploying to assist with the Red Cross response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Two volunteers are from the Big Island and four volunteers are from O‘ahu. They will all be assisting in mass care.

In addition, a total of 50 Hawai‘i Red Cross volunteers have been deployed to provide shelter, food, comfort and hope to victims of Hurricane Harvey and Irma.

For Harvey, a total of 31 volunteers were deployed: 15 from O‘ahu, 10 from the Big Island, five from Maui and one from Moloka‘i.

For Irma, a total 19 volunteers were deployed: nine from O‘ahu, four from Kaua‘i, three from Maui and three from the Big Island.

Three Hawai‘i Red Cross team members are also assisting virtually; one Big Island volunteer will be assisting as a call agent, one O‘ahu volunteer is assisting with shelter population counts and one O‘ahu staff member is assisting with Service to the Armed Forces Hero Care call center and casework.

In the last month, the American Red Cross has launched a wide-ranging relief effort to help people devastated by three historic hurricanes.

The Red Cross is part of a large team of agencies and organizations responding to provide help to communities turned upside down by these three category 4 storms.

• Overall Red Cross Response Efforts to Harvey, Irma, and MariaIn the last four weeks, the Red Cross along with community and government partners have provided nearly 1 million (985,000) overnight stays in emergency shelters due to hurricanes. Shelters were opened in eight states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
• The Red Cross has served more than 3.6 million meals and snacks and provided more than 1 million relief items to people in need.
• Red Cross volunteers have provided more than 108,000 mental health and health services to support and care for those affected.
• More than 5,300 Red Cross disaster workers and more than 330 emergency response vehicles—nearly our entire vehicle fleet—are on the ground right now, helping thousands of people affected by these storms.
• More than 78 million hurricane and flood alerts have been issued through Red Cross mobile apps for Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

About the American Red Cross
The Red Cross is not a government agency and depends on public contributions to help others. All Red Cross assistance to disaster victims is free. Your gift supports the lifesaving mission of the American Red Cross in your community, across the country and around the world. To send a contribution, mail your check to:

Make a secure online donation at www.redcross.org/hawaii or call (808) 739-8109.