|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interview with the American Red Cross | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eileen Kolbeck is the volunteer coordinator with the American Red Cross, Hampton Roads chapter. She describes the American Red Cross as a volunteer run humanitarian organization. It gives relief to victims of natural and man-made disasters, helps to teach the public how to prepare for and prevent emergencies, and responds to emergencies when they occur. The Hampton Roads chapter has 400-500 volunteers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| According to Kolbeck, the agency relies on its volunteers to get the programs out to the public. There are five main service areas of the Red Cross: International Services, Disaster Services, Armed Forces Emergency Services, Biomedical Services, and Health and Safety Services. Some of the International Services help to trace families that may have been separated. Currently, they are helping to gather school supplies to send to children in Afghanistan. The Disaster Service section puts together disaster action teams. These volunteers get special training to respond to single-family fires, natural disasters, man-made disasters, and more. They do damage assessments, provide families a place to stay, replace clothing, food, and medical supplies, and can also open shelters as needed. The Armed Forces Emergency Services take care of any emergency the military might have. There is an answering service with which one can leave a message at any time of the day and someone on-call will respond to an emergency. The Biomedical Service helps with blood drives, which volunteers staff. They register the donors and help with the refreshments. The volunteers, who go through training, also can help with labeling the bags and tubes. The Health and Safety Services look for volunteer instructors. They take a three-day training course and must commit to teaching at least three of their specific courses a year. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kolbeck says that there are many different ways the American Red Cross gets its volunteers. Frequently, the volunteers contact them. Sometimes, people respond to newspaper ads about certain needs for volunteers or they might read about something in the quarterly newsletter or on their web site. Frequently, members from the American Red Cross will speak at community organizational meetings; also this draws in volunteers. Another main source of public interaction takes place at blood drives. They hand out fliers and rack cards at all of their special activities. Also, very important, is the word of mouth from past volunteers. Many times, friends of already active volunteers will also offer their services. Community Service also brings in many volunteers, whether they come for school, ordered by a court, or other reasons. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| According to Kolbeck the American Red Cross has several methods by which it receives its funding. The main way it receives most of its money is by donations from the American public. They also hold many different fundraisers throughout the year. Sometimes investments are donated, which brings in money for them, and sometimes they get grants. They mostly have to rely on the good will and generosity of the American people. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kolbeck explained that the American Red Cross has a tremendous impact on the communities that they serve. Most people, sometime in their life, are in some way involved with the Red Cross. It could be from taking swimming lessons as a young child, donating blood, helping with disasters, blood pressure screenings, to the many programs they have to offer. They also serve as a community referral service. If the Red Cross isn't able to help in a certain aspect of someone's needs then they find someone who can. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kolbeck finds that problems can sometimes occur within the organization in getting its information to the public. Since they are a not-for-profit agency, they are not allowed to pay for advertising. This means they have to rely on the media, and whether or not the story affects the public enough to get involved. Another problem is that even with the high number of volunteers, frequently they are short staffed with a lot of work to try to get done by a few volunteers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kolbeck says that the need right now for the American Red Cross is mainly for volunteers. They need volunteer instructors so that they can reach more people. The more people trained for emergencies, the safer and better educated a community can be. They also need more volunteers trained for disaster preparedness. The more people properly trained, the better these people can respond to whatever may happen. Also, another need of the American Red Cross is a larger blood donor base. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To Kolbeck the outlook for the American Red Cross is to continue relying on the generosity of the American people. They hope to soon have an adequate blood supply in Hampton Roads. Their goal is for every hospital and American Red Cross building to have plenty of blood on hand at all times. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The American Red Cross helps the members of a community with any emergency that might occur. They teach people to be aware of how to prevent many different disasters. They encourage people to be prepared for emergencies that might come up. Also, they respond to all sorts of disasters that occur locally and nationwide. The American Red Cross chapter in Hampton Roads is a vital part of our community. Without their services and many active volunteers, our area would have many citizens facing hardships alone, and often they have no one else to turn to when an emergency or disaster strikes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Works Cited | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kolbeck, Eileen. Personal interview. 18 March 2002. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| back to home | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||