Nonprofit Week 2025: American Red Cross

Executive Director Debbie Zabica shared the American Red Cross’s immediate response to the July 4 flood, including opening shelters and providing immediate assistance, while now focusing on long-term recovery efforts in partnership with community organizations like Goodwill.

A significant challenge was managing the overwhelming amount of donated goods, which was “almost a disaster within itself.” The Red Cross has a national agreement with Goodwill, and locally, Goodwill took multiple trailers of donated items, establishing a distribution center where flood-affected people and first responders can get items for free.

A key current need is volunteers to work at the Goodwill distribution center to sort through donations. The organization is also launching a “Shelter Heroes” initiative to recruit and train volunteers in advance for future disasters, particularly with potential hurricanes on the coast.

Beyond disaster response, the Red Cross continuously supports everyday operations like home fires, offers “Be Red Cross Ready” preparedness training and runs programs in schools like “Prepared Pedro.”

The organization seeks a couple of new board members from Kerrville to strengthen local leadership and community connections.

For more information, visit redcross.org/local/texas/central-and-south-texas/about-us/locations/hill-country.