Gori Bibi was fast asleep in her home in Badin district in Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh when she suddenly awoke, soaking wet. Rising from her bed, she found her house surrounded by water which was rising rapidly. She quickly woke her husband and nine children and they escaped the floodwaters with just the clothes they had on.

This was the scene as Recent rainfall has exacerbated the situation in Sindh Province, where communities are still recovering from last year’s floods. Nearly one million homes have been partially or fully destroyed and an estimated 142,000 people are in temporary camps. More than 240 people have died and over 400,000 others have been displaced as torrential rains and flooding continue in parts of Pakistan.

In response, the American Red Cross has provided $50,000 in aid to help in the immediate relief effort.   With this and other international support, the Pakistan Red Crescent plans to provide emergency relief aid to 105,000 people in five of the worst affected districts of Sindh over the next four months. In 2010, through the generosity of the American people, the American Red Cross sent $8.2 million to support relief efforts after historic floods devastated Pakistan.

With those donations, the global Red Cross provided families like the Bibi’s with food and other relief items, including kitchen and hygiene kits, tents and tarps.

But maybe the most important service the Red Cross can provide is protection. With temporary shelter, families like the Bibi’s can be protected from the elements. For a $60 donation, you can provide the gift of Temporary Shelter to one family.

When an earthquake, flood or other disaster causes mass destruction overseas, thousands of families can be left homeless. You can provide tarps, wood and rope to temporarily shelter families from wind, rain or the glaring sun – the first step to helping those families on their path to recovery.

Give today, by shopping the Holiday Giving Catalog.  

Lindsey