The Red Cross is an international organization which cares
for people who are in need of help. A man in a Paris hospital who needs blood, a
woman in Mexico who was injured in an earthquake, and a family in India that
lost their home in a storm may all be aided by the Red Cross.
The Red Cross exists in almost every country around the globe. The world Red
Cross organizations are sometimes called the Red Crescent, the Red Mogen David,
the Sun, and the Red Lion. All of these agencies share a common goal of trying
to help people in need. The idea of forming an organization to
help the sick and wounded during a war started with Jean Henri Dunant. In 1758,
he observed how people were suffering on a battlefield in Italy. He wanted to
help all the wounded people regardless of which side they were fighting for. The
most important result of his work was an international treaty called the Geneva
Convention. It protects prisoners of war, the sick and wounded, and other
citizens during a war. The American Red Cross was set up by
Clara Barton in 1771. Today the Red Cross in the United States provides a number
of services for the public, such as helping people in need, leaching first aid
and providing blood. The person who started the idea of this organization was ______.