05 Dec WGN-TV’S Partnership with Chicago Red Cross On December 4 for “Sending Hope – Disaster Relief Drive” — $3,224,827 Raised!
CHICAGO – (December 5, 2017) – Chicago’s Very Own WGN-TV was proud to team up with the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago and Northern Illinois for a Disaster Relief Drive. The 13-hour drive on WGN-TV raised a whopping $3,224,827 for the American Red Cross.
“We asked our viewers to help and they came out in droves. Along with the support from the corporate community, this was a fantastic effort and an amazing amount of money raised for the American Red Cross,” commented Jennifer Lyons, WGN-TV News Director. “It was an unprecedented amount for this year filled with unprecedented events. Our thanks to Groupon for hosting us and for their generous match. We could not have done it without them.”
The “WGN-TV Red Cross Sending Hope Disaster Relief Drive” ran at Groupon’s Chicago offices (600 W. Chicago Ave.) on Monday, December 4. WGN-TV covered the drive from 6AM to 7PM sharing the stories of the people affected and how the Red Cross is helping on WGN Morning News, WGN Midday News and WGN Evening News.
The past few months have brought disasters across the country affecting millions of people. From hurricanes, wildfires and tragic shootings, the Red Cross has been helping people take the first steps on a long road to recovery. In Chicago, over 200 local volunteers deployed to disaster zones while locally the Red Cross the disaster action team still responds to 4-5 home fires daily in the Chicagoland area. During the holiday season, the number of home fires in the Chicagoland area also increases, keeping volunteers especially busy.
Since late August, the American Red Cross launched an unprecedented and wide-ranging disaster relief response to help people affected by three historic back-to-back hurricanes followed closely by the deadliest week of wildfires in California history. In addition, the local response continues, as local volunteers continue to provide support for home fire victims, such as a recent house explosion in Willowbrook, a devastating fatal apartment fire in Bensenville providing food, and over 20 local fires over the Thanksgiving weekend that displaced residents. The Red Cross provided shelter, food, clothing, medications, comfort and mental health support to the people affected.
The work of the Red Cross is completely dependent on donations to provide immediate relief. Donations enable the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters. It is the generosity of donors that made the response to both the local disasters and the national disasters possible this year.
About WGN-TV:
WGN News programs more local news than any other Chicago TV station, and can be seen on WGN-TV, CLTV, WGNTV.com and the WGN-TV News and Live apps. WGN 9.2 is Chicago’s home of Tribune Broadcasting’s classic TV network Antenna TV and WGN 9.3 is Chicago’s This TV movie network affiliate. WGN-TV is a Tribune Broadcasting station. For more information on Chicago’s Very Own WGN-TV, go to WGNTV.com
About the American Red Cross of Chicago & Northern Illinois:
The American Red Cross of Chicago & Northern Illinois serves 9.5 million people in 21 counties including Boone, Bureau, Carroll, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Jo Daviess, LaSalle, Lake, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Putnam, Stephenson, Whiteside, Will and Winnebago. The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit us at redcross.org/il/chicago or visit us on Twitter @ChicagoRedCross.
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CONTACT: Diana Dionisio
www.wgntv.com/pressreleases
773-883-3412/ ddionisio@wgntv.com
Joy Squier
312-384-0454 / joy.squier@redcross.org