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The Greater Carolinas Chapter of the American Red Cross will open a shelter today for evacuees from Hurricane Gustav.  A local evacuee shelter will open at noon to provide Gulf coast residents a safe place to stay while they await word about their homes in the path of the hurricane.
The shelter will be at the Victory Christian Center, 7228 Old Pineville Road Charlotte.  Volunteers have already started to set up the shelter, which is in the gymnasium. At this time, there is no estimate on the number of evacuees that will need shelter in Charlotte.
Pamela Jefsen, CEO of the Greater Carolinas Red Cross stated, “The Victory Christian Center is one of our treasured faith partners.  The have take preparation seriously and have had their facility certified and have trained and tested 70 volunteers from their congregations.  Especially with schools in session, we greatly appreciate this resource.”
The shelter will remain open as long as it is needed.
On a national level, the American Red Cross response to Gustav is in full swing, with shelters open in 8 states to keep people safe from the storm. On the first major sheltering night Sunday night, the Red Cross provided shelter to nearly 45,000 people in 344 shelters. The Red Cross now has nearly 500 shelters ready to receive evacuees. Those shelters can house nearly 165,000 people. This is the largest Red Cross relief effort since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The Red Cross has launched a fundraising effort to support the flooding and Hurricane Gustav relief.  Jefsen said, “We can only help the victims of disaster because generous businesses and individuals in our community step forward and provide funds.  We are the conduit for the caring of neighbors and friends all over the country.”
Donations can be made on line at http://www.redcrosshelps.org
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The American Red Cross is where people mobilize to help their neighbors — across the street, across the country and across the world.

Each year, victims of some 70,000 disasters turn to neighbors familiar and new — the nearly 1 million volunteers and 35,000 employees of the Red Cross. Through more than 800 locally supported chapters, more than 15 million people gain the skills they need to prepare for and respond to emergencies in their homes, communities and world. Some 4 million people give blood — the gift of life — through the Red Cross, making it the largest supplier of blood and blood products in the United States. The Red Cross helps thousands of U.S. service members separated from their families by military duty stay connected.

Locally, more than 3,000 people a year in need after a disaster turn to their neighbors — the nearly 2,000 volunteers and 62 employees of the Greater Carolinas Chapter of the Red Cross. Also through chapter every year, more than 53,000 people gain the skills they need to prepare for and respond to emergencies in their homes; free trips to medical appointments for more than 17,000 people are provided; some 51,000 life-saving units of blood are donated; 38,000 pamphlets on safety and preparedness are distributed; and more than 1,470 U.S. service members separated from their families stay connected through the Greater Carolinas Chapter.