Our Chapter offers services and programs that touch people both locally and globally.

When war, civil unrest or disaster cause families to separate, an inability to communicate with each other or even know if a loved one is still alive only deepens the mental and emotional anguish caused by their separation.

To address this, Congress chartered the American Red Cross to provide tracing, message delivery and other international services.

We do this by working with the American National Red Cross in Washington, D.C., to exchange messages and tracing requests with other Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and with the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Select an area to learn more:

• Tracing Services
• Holocaust Tracing Program
• Worldwide Message Delivery Services
• International Disaster Welfare Inquires
• Family Links Website: Connecting Relatives During Iraq Conflict

The American Red Cross works with other members of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement around the world and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to locate missing loved ones during or after war, civil unrest, or a disaster in another country.

Not only do we accept tracing requests from residents who lost contact with family members overseas, but we also search locally for people whose overseas relatives believe last resided in our county.

Our national headquarters in Washington, D.C., acts as the conduit to and from other Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the ICRC. As with all international services, this tracing service is provided free of charge.

As Holocaust survivors and their families continue to age, the importance of making our tracing services accessible to them becomes increasingly urgent.

With the former Soviet Union's 1990 release of Nazi-era documents to the Red Cross, we can now determine the fate of more victims and survivors of Nazi persecution. For many, sadly, no information is available even with access to these records. For others, a search can bring closure in the confirmation of a loved one's death, or even the miracle of a reunion.

A search begins with a call or letter to the American Red Cross office nearest you. For residents of Norwalk, Westport, Wilton and Weston, the Mid-Fairfield County Chapter is your local Red Cross office.

For more information on the American Red Cross Holocaust Tracing Program, visit the web site for our Holocaust and War Victims Tracing Center in Baltimore, Maryland.

In times of war and disaster, many people are unable to contact relatives because of disrupted or unreliable postal and telephone systems.

Through an international network of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the ICRC, we can attempt to send a message with a current address to a family member in another country, and through the same means deliver a reply message to the inquirer.

When an earthquake, typhoon, or other natural disaster strikes, normal ways that families keep in touch with each other may be unavailable for some time.

People in the United States who are anxious about the welfare of their relatives in a disaster-stricken area can call on the Red Cross.

When the national Red Cross or Red Crescent society of the affected country is able to accept inquiries, that society will look for family members and forward any information about their welfare through Red Cross channels to the originating chapter.

Note: If your family member is an American citizen living or traveling abroad in non-U.S. territories, please call American Citizen Services, U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C., at (888) 407-4747.

Area residents now have an opportunity to connect with relatives in Iraq and to send a Red Cross message through a website offered by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Relatives living in the United States may register themselves on the ICRC Arabic/English language "Restoring Family Links" website at www.familylinks.icrc.org.

This will allow family members in Iraq to know how to make contact with them. Individuals in Iraq may also register to let family members in Norwalk, Westport, Weston and Wilton and around the world know of their whereabouts.

This services is needed as many telephone lines are overloaded or are no longer working in Iraq, and relatives may have taken refuge in areas where telephone services is unavailable.

The ICRC is not accepting messages for prisoners of war at this time. The ICRC initiates contact with family members once communication is made with individual prisoners of war. Additional information is available at www.redcross.org regarding humanitarian services for family members of the displaced and the military through the ICRC in the 'Conflict with Iraq' column on the home page.