Original post by Susan Malandrino, American Red Cross

May was officially designated by Congress in 1999 as Military Appreciation Month and reminds Americans to celebrate and pay tribute to past and present military members and their families who have sacrificed so much.

How the Red Cross Supports the Military Community

Red Cross SAF staff are on more than 100 military installations and deployments sites and at over 140 military medical facilities and 170 veteran care facilities worldwide. Each year,  Red Cross provides emergency services to over 90,000 to members of the military, veterans and their families by leveraging the network of 14,700 Red Crossers to:

• Help families communicate with their loved ones and facilitate their return home through our Hero Care Network.
• Offer a variety of free resiliency workshops in-person and virtual to provide military, veterans, their families and caregivers with resources and tools for facing challenges and stress.
• Medical and non-medical Red Cross volunteers provide care, comfort and therapy items at veteran hospitals and military treatment facilities around the work.
• Red Cross also supports our nation’s wounded, ill and injured military and veterans of all eras through virtual and in-person peer support to reduce their isolation, and increase their sense of hope, knowledge and skills.
• For those new to the military community, check out the  ‘Get to Know Us Before You Need Us’ program where Red Crossers meet with new enlistees and their families to answer questions about military family life and share how Red Cross services can help before, during and after deployment.

How You Can Give Back to the Military Community

This year, during May,  turn their appreciation into action. Red Crossers can make a critical difference in the lives of our military families through emergency relief and volunteering.

• Volunteer with the Red Cross to turn ‘thank you for your service’ into action.
• Through the Red Cross Hero Care Network, volunteers deliver critical emergency messages for military families separated by deployments, training, and more.
• Through the military hospital programs, medical and non-medical volunteers are needed to provide patient comfort and care to injured or wounded service members and their families.
• Support for military mental health is crucial. At the American Red Cross, mental health professional volunteers lead free resiliency workshops for military families in need.
• If you would like to turn your military appreciation into action, we encourage you to reach out to sign up at redcross.org/volunteer or reach out to your local Red Cross for opportunities.