The vision of the American Red Cross - San Diego/Imperial Counties is to become America's most prepared community.  We serve to relieve human suffering by preventing, preparing for, and responding to emergencies.

The Red Cross is not a governmental agency, and relies on community donations of time and money to do its work.  The San Diego/Imperial Counties chapter, founded in 1898, responds to an emergency nearly every 24 hours.

The American Red Cross is guided by seven fundamental principles:  humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality.

In 2006-07, our chapter offered the following services:

• Community education - provided training for 82,000 people in health & safety classes including disaster preparedness, First Aid, CPR, and aquatics.
• Disaster response and relief - responded to 242 disasters: fires, floods, storms & hazardous materials.
• Services to the Armed Forces (SAF) - provided emergency social services to military personnel and their families, more than 22,000 total cases and assistance to 2,000 families per month.
• Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC) (state contract) - nutrition counseling for pregnant and breastfeeding women, infants, and children under the age of five; 36,500 clients per month.

This chapter serves more than 3 million people in San Diego County, covering 4,255 square miles, and 150,000 people in Imperial County, covering 4,597 square miles.