OUR SERVICES

Volunteer Services

Want to Volunteer???
Please come to the Medical Forum in Birmingham!

A:   Red Cross volunteers may be your neighbors,  friends,  family members or co-workers.  They come from all walks of life to help people, regardless of race, creed, color or religion.  She may be the woman next door who teaches first aid at the community center, or the assembly-line worker who organizes Red Cross blood drives.  He may be the small-business owner who helps a family find shelter after their home burns to the ground, or the spouse of someone in the U.S. military who provides casework services to families on base.  She may be the student on summer vacation who delivers meals to the homebound, or the school nurse who teaches Red Cross AIDS education at local work sites, or the chief executive officer of a major corporation offering management skills and encouraging employees to volunteer their time to the Red Cross.  No matter who they are, their goal is the same:  to make our community a better, safer place to live.

Q:  What do Red Cross Volunteers do?

A:  The Red Cross offers a wide range of services that are always looking for volunteers. The following represents a small sampling of services the Birmingham Area Chapter provides
to the community:

A.R.C.H.I.E. (American Red Cross Helps In Emergencies) - After being notified by the fire department  of a single family fire in the area, Red Cross volunteers arrive at the scene in a van stocked with clothes, undergarments, comfort kits and canteen items.  After providing the family with any immediate clothing needs, volunteers, if necessary, notify a local hotel for the victims to have a place to stay for the night or offer them transportation to a family member or friend's house to stay.  This program includes the entire Jefferson County area and has helped many people thanks to the work of our VOLUNTEERS.

Each year, Red Cross volunteers help collect more than 6 million units of blood from more than 4 million volunteer blood donors.  These donations amount to nearly half the nation's blood supply.

• Volunteers identify and recruit healthy blood donors by spending countless hours on the telephone to help ensure an adequate blood supply.
• Volunteers contribute to a blood drive's success by giving out refreshments, registering donors, and, if certified, taking vital signs.
• Motor service volunteers ensure the pick-up and delivery of units from a blood drive to the laboratory to be thoroughly tested and then sent to the hospital.

Volunteer health and safety instructors make possible the certification of 7 million people a year in CPR, First Aid, lifeguard training and swimming.  Instructors are provided to employers to teach their employees these courses, which, in turn, help make our communities healthier, safer places to live.  Other services include water safety and cleanliness courses for children, HIV/AIDS prevention courses, and the distribution of brochures to educate the community of various ways to live safer, healthier lives.

Red Cross volunteers provide emergency-related services to members of the U.S. Armed Forces, veterans, their families and civilians.  The Red Cross provides around-the-clock, around-the-world emergency communications, 24 hours-a-day, every day of the year, to service personnel or their families.  Volunteer caseworkers assist with counseling and other social services to military families, as well as, assessing the needs of qualified individuals in the community.  Project SHARE  (Services to Help Alabamians with Relief on Energy) is a program designed to meet the energy needs of qualified, low-income elderly, or disabled individuals facing financial and/or medical emergencies.  This program would not be possible without the support of volunteers contributing their time entering data into computers and determining individuals' eligibility.   Project SHARE  has provided more than $14 million to pay the energy bills of over 165,000 qualified households.

A:  There are numerous ways you can help.  One way is by becoming a Red Cross service volunteer.  The Red Cross can match almost any skill with a need, or teach new skills that can be used for a lifetime.  When someone gives their time and talent to the American Red Cross, he/she is contributing to an organization whose name and emblem are universally recognized -- a guarantee of impartiality, quality, trust, and reliability.  For over 100 years, Red Cross volunteers have been there when America needed them.  Whatever service or services a volunteer chooses to be part of, it makes the community -- and world -- a better place.

How can you help?

Become a Red Cross Volunteer!