The AmeriCorps Member: A True Life Story Series

Yesterday I went with our Kern Chapter Volunteer Coordinator Amy Mayer to speak at CSUB for first year students in the College Assistance Migrant Program. Amy was presenting information on volunteer opportunities, and I figured I would tag along, seeing as how I would never turn down an opportunity to interact with potential volunteers in our community. At the end of her presentation, the professor of the class asked if we could each share our college experiences, and how we ended up with the American Red Cross. 

I spoke of my journey through college, and explained how I felt so anxious about my future upon graduation. I also took this golden opportunity to share how I ended up where I am today, an AmeriCorps NPRC member. None of these students had heard of AmeriCorps until yesterday. I talked about a realization I had before I applied for the AmeriCorps program, explaining to them how I felt somewhat selfish. Throughout college, I was only worried about myself. I was focused on my grades, on what my next step was, on what my struggles and strengths were. Now don’t get me wrong, we have to worry about these things to get through college with flying colors, but I felt a need to give back. This need to give back played perfectly with the fact that I was unsure of what my next step in life was going to be. That’s when I discovered AmeriCorps. It was perfect! Not only would I be able to gain valuable experience in a professional work environment, learn how a large non-profit organization works, and meet and work with so many great people, I would also be taking 11 months out of my life to give back and help others who are in need. I know there are many college students out there who feel the same way I felt, and I took it upon myself to advertise the AmeriCorps program and how rewarding it is. In my opinion, everyone should join. 

You see folks, this is what we do. We honor the “A”. 

Samantha Minks

AmeriCorps NPRC 2013-2014

Preparedness Coordinator

American Red Cross - Kern Chapter

samantha.minks@redcross.org

Change Our Community, Change Our World

Just my luck, in the short 11-month period I've committed to national and community service, I got called into jury duty and no, I'm not kidding. Due to the surplus of citizens reporting for duty, I was dismissed early and though I wasn't expecting to take anything away from that short period of time, I learned about a basic fundamental in our society that we seem to emphasize only at certain times: community service.

You've heard it time and time again from the media, from organizations, and from this blog asking for you to commit your time, knowledge, and skills for the greater good. While I was waiting for the fate of my civic duty, I looked around and saw how distraught people were (myself, included) because they were not at work or school, being productive to society. I thought not only how citizens can give back to the community, but also what motivates someone to take action.

The time to give is now. There is no need to wait for a special community day of service to take action. There are always areas of our society that need assistance and in my humble opinion, every day can be a day of community service. To expand on that idea, it feels great to help the community and when I do, I feel that a bit of justice is served. If you're familiar with the musical "Avenue Q," this may sound familiar: "When you help others, you can't help helping yourself!"

Every single person reading this blog post can make an impact in their community, state, and nation. As it has been said before, "the need is constant." Please consider your family, friends, colleagues, peers, and neighbors and when you're ready, the community will be waiting for you.

Amitai "Tai" S. Zuckerman

Preparedness Coordinator

American Red Cross – Tulare and Kings Counties

AmeriCorps NPRC Member 2013-2014

Community Preparedness and Resilience Services

amitai.zuckerman@redcross.org

Are You Ready to be Helped?

Today was a special day for my AmeriCorps service and the American Red Cross in Tulare and Kings Counties. In the past few months, the Red Cross presence has grown and we now offer our outstanding programs to an wider variety of audiences. In addition to upcoming Team Firestopper Community Presentations, Kid Firestopper lessons, and Wild Firestopper programs, we now have the resources to conduct our infamous Be Red Cross Ready Presentations in Spanish right out of our Branch office in Visalia.

Let me introduce you to Nora. Nora is one of our valued Volunteers who has enough energy and enthusiasm to take complete command of any room she walks into. She is fluent in English and Spanish and this morning, she single-handedly and effortlessly conducted a Be Red Cross Ready Presentation in Spanish to English as a Second Language students in Kings County. 

Teaching families and communities how to prepare for disasters is our mission and we will continue to do so in order to alleviate the stress and fear of preparing for the worst. We are proud of our mission and we wish to extend our reach and message to all corners of Tulare and Kings Counties.

To learn about the various types of preparedness presentations we offer and to schedule your free presentation, please call the Visalia Branch at 559.732.6436.

Amitai "Tai" S. Zuckerman
Preparedness Coordinator
American Red Cross – Tulare and Kings Counties
AmeriCorps NPRC Member 2013-2014
Community Preparedness and Resilience Services
amitai.zuckerman@redcross.org

Do It Yourself: The Family Emergency Binder

Hello all!

We've gone over plenty of times all of the items that you want to put in your disaster preparedness kit. You’ll want the basics of course; water, non-perishable food, flashlights and batteries, a portable radio, a first aid kit, medications, and the list goes on. In the event of an emergency evacuation many of us are reluctant to leave our homes, and there are many reasons for this. Perhaps you have valuables that you couldn't bare to leave behind, or important information that you just can’t leave without such as birth certificates, passports, and social security cards. What about those photo albums full of family memories? These are all things that we can prepare for beforehand, ensuring that in the case of an emergency evacuation you can get out as soon as possible and not feel the need to go back inside. Here are some ideas! 

For all of you technologically savvy folks out there, consider scanning all of those important documents and photos onto your computer and then saving them on a thumb drive. These are inexpensive and small devices that are made to store information. Once you have everything saved onto your thumb drive, you can then attach it to a key chain or keep it inside your already prepared emergency kit. 

If you’re more of the crafty type, consider putting together a binder like this family did:  An emergency binder is a place to store all of your passports, birth and marriage certificates, social security cards, home and car insurance information, emergency cash, and family photos. It's all in one convenient place that is easy to grab on your way out the door.   

Make it your own! Cater it to you and your family's needs, and decorate it together. You could have each member of the family add an item that is important to them, or set aside a section of the binder for each family member. Remember, putting together your preparedness kit can be fun! Include all members of the family when assembling it, and make sure everyone knows where the kit is kept upon completion. 

For more ideas on Do It Yourself preparedness tips, visit http://www.pinterest.com/rebeccawhipple/preparedness-ideas/

Samantha Minks

Preparedness Coordinator

AmeriCorps NPRC 2013-2014

American Red Cross - Kern Chapter

samantha.minks@redcross.org

  

Prepare-aphernalia: Cooked to "Prevention"

Well, this is nifty!

How often do you get distracted while cooking? If you're anything like my loving mother, it's probably too often. Fear not, char masters, because this device will help keep your home safe even when you're not paying attention to that oh-would-have-been-so-delicious dinner.

Alas, the Fire Avert. This little box plugs into a wall outlet as well as a stove. If your food starts to burn and the smoke alarm goes off, the microphone in this device senses the shrills and will automatically disconnect power to the appliance. To ensure that no one is present to tend to your savory dish (and the smoke), you have three minutes once the smoke alarm is activated to clear the smoke before the Fire Avert kicks into action. This will help prevent a fire in the kitchen.

Developed in Utah, the Fire Avert is designed for electric stoves but a model for gas is "cooking in the oven."

For more information, please check out the following link: http://www.gizmag.com/fire-avert-home-fire-prevention/24172/

Amitai "Tai" S. Zuckerman

Preparedness Coordinator

American Red Cross – Tulare and Kings Counties

AmeriCorps NPRC Member 2013-2014

Community Preparedness and Resilience Services

amitai.zuckerman@redcross.org