Arkansas averages 38 tornadoes a year, and the Red Cross Arkansas Region is the organization that opens shelters and provides immediate help when they hit, along with responding to floods, home fires, and severe weather statewide. This page covers giving blood, donating money, volunteering, and what to do if you need help after a disaster.
The state sits in a tornado-active corridor and regularly sees major outbreaks, especially in spring. Flooding along the Arkansas River, Mississippi River, and their tributaries is a recurring problem in the Delta counties, and home fires are common in older rural housing stock. The Arkansas Region responds to all of these with emergency shelter, food, and immediate assistance for displaced families.
If a tornado, flood, or fire has displaced you in Arkansas, call 1-800-RED-CROSS for immediate help. Assistance after a home fire, the most frequent disaster the Red Cross responds to, is available even when the event never makes the news. Shelter locations are announced through local media and redcross.org when they open.
The region collects blood at donor centers statewide, and hospital systems including UAMS and Baptist Health depend on that supply. Appointments are usually available within days at most Arkansas chapters.
Schedule at redcrossblood.org or by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS. If needles are not for you, hosting or publicizing a blood drive through work, school, or church moves the supply just as effectively. Plan on about an hour from check-in to the snack table, and bring a photo ID. Most healthy adults can give whole blood every 56 days, so regular donors manage about six visits a year; a solid meal and extra water beforehand make the process easier.
Financial gifts through redcross.org fund shelter operations, supplies, and recovery assistance; you can direct a gift to disaster relief broadly or give unrestricted. Money arrives faster and adapts better than goods, which the Red Cross generally does not accept for disaster response. Monthly giving is the steadiest way to fund a response calendar that peaks every spring, and gifts are tax-deductible.
Disaster response volunteers complete several weeks of training before deploying, so signing up before tornado season starts is more useful than signing up during one. CPR and first aid classes are also available at chapter locations across the state. Volunteer roles cover shelter staffing, feeding operations, damage assessment, and blood drive support, and most require no medical background.
The American Red Cross is a registered 501(c)(3); you can verify it yourself in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search at apps.irs.gov and review its Charity Navigator profile. Keep the acknowledgment for any donation of $250 or more.
Sources: American Red Cross — Arkansas Region official site (redcross.org); our Arkansas charity guide research. Retrieved July 2026. We are not affiliated with American Red Cross — Arkansas Region and receive no compensation for this listing. Spotted an error? [email protected]
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