Everybody likes a top ten list. And in this case, the American Red Cross Central Illinois Chapter and the American Red Cross of the Heartland have made the Red Cross Top Ten Percent Highly-Performing list.

Of 756 chapters across the country, these two chapters join only 90 that are recognized as “Highly Performing.” This is the third consecutive year that the Central Illinois Chapter has received this distinction.

Only eight other chapters can say that and this is the first year for the American Red Cross of the Heartland to be rated as “Successful” (the second-highest level of achievement) the past two years.

The honor is part of the American Red Cross’ continuous improvement model which measures chapter performance through customer and volunteer satisfaction surveys, outcome achievement, feedback from community partners and the organization’s financial strength and stability. Chapters are then evaluated annually with similarly sized chapters throughout the American Red Cross network of chapters. The model exists to assure that chapters are fulfilling the Red Cross mission while incorporating the appropriate checks and balances necessary to assure the donated dollars are being used wisely and within corporate standards.

Anne Fox, Chief Executive Officer of the American Red Cross Central Illinois Chapter appeared on Live at Five to talk about the honor.