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American Red Cross Mission Statement The American Red Cross is a humanitarian organization, led by volunteers, that provides relief to victims of disasters and helps people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies. It does this through services that are consistent with its Congressional Charter and the principles of the International Red Cross Movement.
Volunteering
It's not what you give, it's not what you get, it's what
you become.
Become a part of the largest volunteer organization in the world, right here in Sandusky County! You will meet interesting, caring people who are actively giving to their community. You will have the support of a large network of other volunteers and you can do as much or as little as you like. All volunteer positions in the American Red Cross require no prior knowledge although in some areas it is helpful. We will train you. The American Red Cross has a wonderful training system in place.
To volunteer, please call our office at (419) 332-5574 or stop in any time the office is open. The office hours are 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM Monday through Friday or by appointment. Our volunteer coordinator will be glad to help. You may also reply by email at arcsandco@sbcglobal.net.
Volunteer opportunities and job descriptions
Sandusky County Chapter of American Red Cross
Office Staff
Volunteers are needed to help run the day to day operations in
the chapter. Hours needed are between 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM Monday through Friday. Duties
include:
- Answering the telephone and assisting the person calling. The bulk of our calls include people asking about a CPR or First Aid class or asking for a referral for assistance with rent or electric. You would be trained in how to answer this type of call, as well as any others that may come in.
- Light secretarial work. Frequently we need things typed, mailed or entered into the computer.
- Writing and sending press releases. We'll show you how!
Ordering and receiving of supplies into the office.
Although the bulk of the work in the office is easy to do, as you get involved in the office and understand how it works, you can get more involved. What is needed most in the office is someone who is there on a regular enough basis to understand daily operations. Time involved: 4-10 hours a week depending on volunteer's desires.
Health and
Safety
There are several volunteer opportunities offered in our
Health and Safety department. Several are listed below.
- Course Coordinator: This opportunity is to help us in the coordination of the different classes we offer. Our chapter offers about 16 different courses. The Course coordinator would schedule these classes to ensure none overlap, ensure that the proper materials are on hand for each class, ordering items from our suppliers as necessary. Schedule the pickup and drop off of course equipment as necessary. Time involved: 3-5 hours a week. Can be daytime or evenings. Some of this work can be done from home if you desire.
- Instructor: We need volunteers who have an interest in teaching health and safety classes for us. This could be any class the volunteer has an interest in teaching, i.e. CPR, First Aid, Swimming, Life guarding etc. We offer many different classes. We have a pressing need for volunteers who are willing to be trained to teach the CPR/First Aid community class we hold each month. These instructors must be available three nights a month or one Saturday a month to teach a community class. Time involved: 9 hours a month or more depending on the volunteer's desires. Daytime or Evening.
- Public Awareness (Health and Safety) volunteer: The volunteers in this position are responsible for helping to share what the Red Cross offers in Health and Safety classes to the public. We like to hold small table displays wherever we can, usually once a month, in different locations. These displays offer pamphlets and a person customers can talk to or ask questions of. Displays can be for any number of hours depending on what the volunteer can work. The main thing is to get the word out that we're here. The other responsibility of the Public Awareness volunteers would be to go into businesses to promote our workplace programs, schools to promote our school education programs, and meetings such as PTO's, PTA's, Jaycee's, Veterans, and other local meetings to let them know what we offer.
Disaster:
Disaster Services also offers several different job
opportunities, some are as follows:
- Disaster Action Team (DAT's): This position offers the volunteer a chance to "get personal" with disaster victims. When we respond to home fires, we speak with the victims and decide what kind of aid we can give them in the immediate situation to make the disaster event a bit easier on the victim. This may include putting them in a hotel for the night, arranging for meals, and in some cases, clothes to wear. This position involves committing yourself to training. You will need to know what to do, how to do it, and be able to do it quickly and efficiently when the client needs it. There are several levels of involvement in the DAT field, some of which are listed below: a) Local disasters big and small. b) Single Family Disasters. You go to home fires only in the Sandusky County area. c) Large Disasters local and distant. You can be involved in the National Disaster response team which goes to local or long distance, large disaster situations such as the Oklahoma bombing, the TWA plane crash, or hurricanes. Within that team there are several levels, such as family services which help individual families suffering from the disaster, or psychological services which provide not only aid to the disaster clients but also to the disaster workers. This is an area of particular need for us. Time involved: It really depends on how involved you want to be. Minimum would be 4 hours a month. Usually evenings.
- Public Awareness (Disaster) Volunteer: The responsibilities of these volunteers would be to increase the public awareness of what we provide in disaster services, to provide community disaster education such as fire safety, hurricane preparedness, winter weather safety etc. You would do this by visiting local gatherings such as PTO's, PTA's, schools, local businesses, veterans meetings, Jaycees, etc. and also by the occasional table top display at various events. We have a tremendous amount of public education literature for the general public, we just need a few volunteers to help us get it out to them. Time involved: 10 hours a month, usually daytime.
General Volunteer Opportunities
There are several other volunteer opportunities available through the Red Cross. Some are listed below:
- Public Affairs Officer: These volunteers would be involved with promoting the American Red Cross in Sandusky County. We need volunteers who are willing to speak at different places about what we do, and /or willing to write and send press releases just to let the public know we're here and what we are doing. Volunteers would also be responsible for doing the necessary coordination required to have American Red Cross displays at various county events.
- Financial Development: The American Red Cross relies solely on donations from American citizens. We need volunteers who believe in what we do and want to help. Volunteers would solicit donations from large businesses, small businesses, and local citizens. If you want a challenging job, this one is for you. We need the help of Sandusky County residents. We can't provide the assistance without donations. Time involved: Will vary. Daytime. Some evenings to attend financial development meetings.
- Armed Forces Emergency Services: We need a few volunteers who are willing to participate in our AFES program. Duties would include being "on call" occasionally, to answer any AFES calls. The AFES program in the ARC provides emergency communications between Active Duty personnel and their families. In the event of a death, serious illness, or other family emergency we are there to help them communicate with each other. This job is an easy job that primarily requires a telephone. Most of the AFES casework is done on phone and most cases will only take up about 30 to 45 minutes of your time at one time. Time involved: On call occasionally, depending on how many AFES volunteers we have. Actual case work only involves about 5 hours a month. Both evenings and weekends.
American Red Cross in
Sandusky County
1245 Napoleon Street
Fremont, Ohio 43420
419.332-5574 / 419.332-5598 Fax
arcsandco@sbcglobal.net Email
American Red Cross in
Seneca County
Last updated: 06/20/07