WASHINGTON, Friday, September 19, 2008 — The American Red Cross has reached out across its borders to the north and the south to seek support from her sister Red Cross societies. A fifteen-person disaster response team from the Mexican Red Cross arrived today into Dallas. Six Canadian Red Cross workers are already on the ground, with three more in the pipeline. They will join 5,000 American Red Cross volunteers working around-the-clock in a mammoth relief effort that stretches across seven states from the Gulf Coast to Michigan. "When we got the call to help out, we expedited the process to get our volunteers deployed to Texas in support of our sister Society," says Don Shropshire, director of disaster management for the Canadian Red Cross. "We are happy to help thje thousands of local Red Cross volunteers are helping to manage 95 shelters with 11,000 people in Texas alone. They are serving up hot meal and snacks, and providing first aid and counseling to Ike-affected communities." These cross-border partnerships underline the advantage the American Red Cross has in being part of an international Movement that can call on the assistance of its sister Red Cross and Red Crescent societies around the world. In recent years, the Canadian Red Cross sent hundreds of volunteers to support emergency relief efforts in the U.S. including September 11, after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and other smaller disasters along the US-Canada border. The partnerships are also key in helping the American Red Cross reach diverse populations. "When American and Mexican Red Cross volunteers walked side-by-side through affected Hispanic communities, many more people came up to us for help," explains Gina Guinta of the American Red Cross who worked with ten Mexican Red Cross volunteers during the San Diego wildfires last year. "The Mexican Red Cross uniforms are different than ours and well-known by all Mexicans for their disaster assistance because they are the primary emergency responders in their country. So we reached a greater number of people this way." The American Red Cross returned the favor in 2007 following Hurricane Dean and the floods in the southern state of Tabasco by sending financial assistance and relief workers to Mexico to support their emergency operations. The American Red Cross is also providing technical and financial support to develop a Disaster Operations Center, modeled on the one in Washington DC, at the Mexican Red Cross headquarters in Mexico City. "This collaboration between the American Red Cross and the Mexican Red Cross demonstrates there are no borders when offering humanitarian assistance," said Isaac Oxenhaut, National Disaster Relief Coordinator of the Mexican Red Cross. "When the state of Tabasco was under water last November, the American Red Cross was there to support our relief efforts. When this latest request came to help our brothers and sisters across the Rio Grande, the Mexican Red Cross was happy to answer the call." By working together, the Red Cross is helping to ensure that the most vulnerable receive the assistance they need in finding shelter, meals and a connection to other community services. All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year, disasters like the Hurricanes of 2008, by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of disaster. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster please do so at the time of your donation. Call 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.