NTX Magazine Volume 4 | Page 68

Spotlight on north texas American Red Cross Distribution Facility When disasters strike, the American Red Cross springs into action by opening shelters, providing daily meals and snacks, and distributing clean-up supplies directly into affected neighborhoods. Families often say that the Red Cross appears as if by magic. It’s not magic. It’s logistics. The North Texas Region, covering a span of 111 Texas counties, is now home to a new 174,000-squarefoot Disaster Field Supply Center located in Arlington, Texas. The new Arlington location is one of five large-scale national disaster relief warehouses in the nation and contains enough supplies to provide comfort for up to 100,000 Americans. The most commonly stocked items in the Arlington warehouse include cots, blankets, comfort kits, clean-up kits, coolers, tarps, rakes, shovels, work gloves and food carriers. When the call comes in after a disaster, Red Cross specially-trained warehouse volunteers join forces and load pallets of supplies onto 18-wheelers that will head into the disaster zone with the items the Red Cross needs to comfort families for days, weeks or even months following tornadoes, wildfires, floods, hurricanes or other life-changing events. 66 www.ntc-dfw.org Winter/Spring 2015