The Alabama Gulf Coast Chapter is one of 128 Red Cross chapters awarded funds as part of the Wal-Mart Foundation’s initiative to support disaster response and capacity building projects nationwide.

“This grant will provide critical material and volunteer resources needed to meet both the needs of large scale and day to day disasters in our rural communities.  It will also provide the base to build successful community partnerships resulting in a community engaged disaster response system,” said Leisle Mims, Executive Director of the Alabama Gulf Coast Chapter.

The Wal-Mart Foundation partnered with the American Red Cross to create a $5 million Disaster Readiness and Capacity Building Grant Program.  This grant will benefit communities across the country that reside near Red Cross chapters located in remote areas that often become isolated during times of disaster and whose chartered jurisdictions serve less than one million people – like the Alabama Gulf Coast Chapter.

The grant will be used to expand our capability of opening, manning and sustaining post-landfall, 100-person shelters in each of the five rural counties, as well as to improve community chapters’ response capacity to support 10-family disaster events.  To achieve this goal, the region will recruit and train local volunteers, and acquire vital supplies, such as trailers stocked with shelter necessities, which will be readily accessible to rural counties to adequately shelter displaced populations.  The grant will also be used to enhance community partner collaboration with volunteer agencies, government agencies and the private sector to initiate and maintain an effective disaster response.

“At Wal-Mart, helping communities is what we do every day. And when a crisis strikes, that charge becomes an even greater priority,” said Margaret McKenna, president of the Wal-Mart Foundation. “Our long-standing support of the American Red Cross is evidence of our commitment to supporting local disaster relief efforts. We are hopeful that the $5 million we have given to local Red Cross chapters across the country will result in the swift, effective response to disasters, and the development of resources before disaster strikes.”

The Wal-Mart Foundation stands ready to help and to work with local leaders, community organizations and elected officials in the instance of a disaster. With a long-standing commitment to supporting local disaster relief efforts, the Wal-Mart Foundation works with the American Red Cross and other organizations in an effort to help its neighbors and communities during times of need.

“We are appreciative to the Wal-Mart Foundation for this much needed grant to enhance our local chapters’ ability to serve their communities,” said Michael Brown, Vice President of Corporate and Foundation Partnerships at the American Red Cross. “Because of their generous support, we will be better positioned to prevent, prepare for and respond to disasters in communities across the country.”