American Red Cross

American Red Cross,

one of more than 120 national organizations that seek to reduce human suffering through various health, safety, and disaster relief programs in affiliation with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The American Red Cross is not a government agency. It relies on donations of time, money, and blood to do its work. The American Red Cross has more than 1.2 million members throughout the United States. Some 97% of Red Cross staff is volunteer. Chapters maintain small paid staffs and employ some professionals but depend largely on the volunteers. The American Red Cross blood program collects and distributes more blood than any other single U.S. agency and coordinates distribution of blood and blood products to the U.S. Defense Department on request or during national emergencies. American Red Cross nursing and health programs include courses in the home on parenthood, prenatal and postnatal care, hygiene, and venereal disease. Nursing students may enroll for service in American Red Cross community programs and during disasters. The President of the United States is honorary chairman of the organization, for which a 50-member board of governors, all volunteers, develops policy. The symbol of the American Red Cross, like that of most other Red Cross societies throughout the world, is a red cross on a field of white; in Switzerland it is a white cross on a red field, in Muslim countries a red crescent, and in Israel a red star of David.