Volunteers to the Rescue!

The American Red Cross relies heavily on the help of volunteers. Volunteers help our organization in many different ways, from helping out Red Cross staff in the office to assisting clients on disaster calls. I have been an AmeriCorps member serving in the Central Valley Region for over three weeks now and I have worked side by side with many Red Cross volunteers.

My first opportunity to work with Red Cross volunteers was at the 2014 A Taste of River Park event. This fun event provided guests with great food, drinks, and fashion shows. The best thing about this event was that a portion a of the ticket proceeds helped benefit the Red Cross. At this event, I was able to see how the Red Cross in the Central Valley Region came together to work as team. The Red Cross employees and volunteers worked diligently to make sure guests had a great time.

But I want to share a positive experience I had with a specific volunteer and how she saved the day.

A fellow AmeriCorps member, Alex Desiga, needed assistance with three presentations that she had scheduled at a military base.  The coordinator at the base needed two children’s safety presentations and a Be Red Cross Ready presentation for adults. All three presentations needed to be done simultaneously so a volunteer and I assisted Alex by presenting Masters of Disasters and Andrew Bashman from the Visalia office presented The Pillowcase Project.

From Left to Right: Alex Desiga, Elizabeth Barragan, Nicole German, Andrew Basham

Nicole German, the volunteer that assisted me with the presentation is a nursing student at Fresno City College and she is volunteering with the Red Cross to get presentation experience. We only had a handful of children for our Masters of Disasters presentation. In our group of children, there was a little girl that was hard of hearing. Her mother was by her side as she seemed timid and uncomfortable. Her mother had to leave her side to attend other matters, and this made the little girl so upset to the point where she started to cry.

As I went to attend to the distressed girl, Nicole stepped up to the plate and was able to continue with the other children and presentation. I was able to educate the little girl on safety and preparedness on a  one on one level, which made her feel comfortable to the point where she was able to joined the other children at the end.

The coordinator and the little girl’s mother were so grateful and pleased with how we handled the situation. I was also thankful to have Nicole there volunteering with me. I know it would have been a stressful situation for me if she was not there.

Volunteers perform 98% of outreach and disaster response in the Central Valley and are essential to the Red Cross mission.

Registering to volunteer is easy! Click here to sign up today.

Elizabeth Barragan
AmeriCorps NPRC 2014-2015
Preparedness Coordinator
American Red Cross Central Valley Region