AmeriCorps: Hitting the Ground Running

Hello everyone!  My name is Andrew, and I am excited to be a part of this year’s AmeriCorps team working with the American Red Cross.  We are a total of six this year working with the Preparedness team in the Central Valley Region, and boy did we have to hit the ground running.

Our predecessors laid down great groundwork in our communities, and it will be a challenge to live up to and exceed all of the work and hours they put in before us.  However, I know that we have a highly motivated team that is more than ready to live up to the challenge.  

From left to right: Veronica, Korri, Andrew

The first few weeks have been a bit hectic with training, and it had me rearing to get out into the community to meet our neighbors and spread the Be Red Cross Ready message.  My counterpart for Tulare and Kings Counties, Korri, and I were accompanied by our Latino Community Preparedness Coordinator Veronica on our first community outreach presentations.  We were honored to speak in front of three 6th grade classes at John J. Doyle Elementary school in Porterville, CA.  The children were eager to learn how to create their own preparedness kits and emergency action plans.  What’s more is they pledged to take this new information home with them to share with the other members of their household.

And so our mission is well underway.  I am excited to meet and teach members of our surrounding communities over the course of the next year.  I have no doubt that the time will fly by, and that we will leave our communities in a more knowledgeable and safer place than they were before.

Andrew Basham

AmeriCorps NPRC 2014-2015

Preparedness Coordinator

American Red Cross Central Valley Region