May 8, 2009 — Today, the Greater Los Angeles Red Cross joins more than 700 American Red Cross chapters throughout the United States and 185 Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies around the world in celebrating World Red Cross Red Crescent Day.
The day honors Henry Dunant who founded the International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement nearly 150 years ago. The theme of this year’s observance is “Sister Societies Working Together,” which pays tribute to Dunant’s vision and highlights the many ways in which Red Cross and Red Crescent societies around the globe partner to protect the lives and dignity of people everywhere.
The Greater Los Angeles Red Cross works with sister Red Cross societies through its International Family Tracing Service, which is available to people who have become separated from loved ones during conflicts or disasters. Through its international network, the Greater Los Angeles chapter can help convey personal messages from L.A. residents to loved ones in the country they were forced to flee. In many cases, the family-linking service offered by the Red Cross is the only hope of reaching family in remote refugee camps and hostile war zones.
Last year, American Red Cross chapters around the country helped exchange messages and conduct related tracing between more than 9,400 people separated by crisis in countries such as Sudan, Somalia, Burundi, Iraq and the former Yugoslavia.
The Greater Los Angeles Red Cross also utilizes its vast worldwide network to assist Holocaust survivors and their loved ones to locate important records, including the following information: proof of internment, forced and slave labor, deportation, evacuation or dislocation from occupied regions.
To begin your search for a loved one, please contact the International Tracing Division at the American Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles at (310) 477-5176 or (800) 627-7000 or email Intlservices@arcla.org.
Tags: red cross international tracing, world red cross red crescent day
