SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — One hundred and ninety times a day, American Red Cross volunteers help families who lost everything in a disaster.

On the Red Cross website, you can choose how your donation will be used. Then, the organization will provide blankets, hot meals, or emergency shelter to victims of home fires and hurricanes.

The Red Cross of Southeast and Coastal Georgia says by choosing to donate online, you can make sure your contribution will help families in our area get back on their feet.

“Once those needs are determined, then we issue a debit card. So the funds are already pre-made on that card so the family really has the dignity of using the funds how they feel best,” Red Cross Executive Director Susan Everitt said. “And it also helps because that money stays local, then, at that point too. So it really is a great way for us to be able to help the families.”

Everitt says even though our local Red Cross is not accepting physical donations at the moment, choosing how you’d like your online contribution to impact families will ensure all their needs are met.

“When we get called to a fire or any other disaster, our first step is to provide comfort to the families,” Everitt said. “So we want to make sure that their mental health is just as secure as their physical health is. So, we will send volunteers out who will spend a lot of time talking to the families, and then we determine what their needs are.”

Everitt says another way to help displaced families is by volunteering. Find out more about that online here.