When the unspeakable happened on September 11th, 2001, the Red Cross was there in the immediate aftermath, and the years to follow. Immediately, the Red Cross:

• Activated 6,000 Red Cross volunteers
• Opened 13 Red Cross shelter
• Sent Disaster Mental Health workers to shelters, crash sites, airports and hospitals
• Set up a mental health hotline
• Opened Respite Centers for firefighters, police officers, port authority workers and others
• Received 1 million calls on the Blood Donation line (the previous record in one day was 3,000 calls)
• Every chapter in the nation supported stranded passengers at airports as air space was shut down
• Launched the Family Registration Web, a predecessor to today’s redcross.org/safeandwell
• Sent teams of Red Cross workers door-to-door in the Restricted Zone for families who had chosen to stay
• After one year, the Red Cross had served 14 million meals for disaster workers and victims, mental health services for more than 237,000 people, and health services for 131,000 people.
• And much  more.

The Greater New York Red Cross has put together a YouTube playlist of Red Crossers remembering that day, including this video about all the spontaneous volunteers who showed up to help out where they could:

Remembering the Red Cross Response to 9/11