American Red Cross Celebrates the Involvement of 160,000 Youth Volunteers
WASHINGTON, Nov. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- November is National
Youth Involvement Month at the American Red Cross. The annual tradition
focuses on the contributions Red Cross youth make to the organization.
"What a huge gift it is to impart to a young volunteer the Fundamental
Principles of the Red Cross Movement," said American Red Cross National
Chair of Volunteers Kate Forbes. "The principles of humanity, impartiality,
neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality are
values that volunteers can draw on throughout their lives. There is no
better foundation for a lifetime of service that impacts the community, the
nation and the world than the Fundamental Principles."
In 2007 National Youth Involvement Month takes on a special
significance, because 2007 marks the 90th anniversary of the Junior Red
Cross. Youth have been formally involved in the mission of the American Red
Cross since September 15, 1917, when President Woodrow Wilson issued a
Proclamation to schoolchildren of the United States, inviting them to
become members of the Junior Red Cross and telling them they could now
share in the "best work of the great cause of freedom."
Ninety years ago the idea was that America's youth would raise funds,
make useful items for children around the world and do all the things that
adult volunteers had no time to do. Soon, however, youth volunteers were
blended into the mainstream of the organization, an integration of the
generations that characterizes volunteerism within the American Red Cross
today.
More than 160,000 volunteers age 24 and under help the American Red
Cross fulfill its mission to provide relief to victims of disasters and
help people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. Youth and
young adults represent nearly 30 percent of all Red Cross volunteers,
serving alongside adult volunteers in leadership and governance, blood
services, service to armed forces, disaster response, international
services and health and safety.
The wide range of activities undertaken by Red Cross youth volunteers
is evident from the projects selected for 2007 National Youth Involvement
Month awards. Building on a recent acquisition of hundreds of items of Red
Cross memorabilia, youth volunteers in Seattle's chapter, the ARC Serving
King and Kitsap Counties, have trained as docents and are offering guided
tours of the new collection. In southern California, Orange County Chapter
youth are planning a large holiday party for 3,000 needy elementary school
children.
Youth volunteers from four Red Cross chapters in the Tampa, Florida
area will be attending a one-day workshop to decide how to implement a team
project to raise funds for the Measles Initiative, a partnership committed
to reducing measles deaths globally, and efforts to fight Malaria, the
number one cause of child mortality in Africa.
The American Red Cross of Massachusetts Bay in Cambridge is celebrating
youth volunteers through a Picturing the Youth of the Red Cross project
which will select the most creative and meaningful pictures of youth
volunteers and develop a set of photo collages to be used in the chapter's
marketing and public relations efforts.
In south central Mississippi, youth volunteers at the Pine Belt Chapter
of the American Red Cross are conducting a four-county recruitment drive to
grow the number of youth involved in the chapter. Youth volunteers in
eastern Alabama's Lee County Red Cross are celebrating the inaugural year
of the Auburn University Red Cross Club by providing free life-saving adult
CPR training to all club members.
The American Red Cross helps people prevent, prepare for and respond to
emergencies. Last year, almost a million volunteers and 35,000 employees
helped victims of almost 75,000 disasters; taught lifesaving skills to
millions; and helped U.S. service members separated from their families
stay connected. Almost 4 million people gave blood through the Red Cross,
the largest U.S. supplier of blood and blood products. The American Red
Cross is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. An
average of 91 cents of every dollar the Red Cross spends is invested in
humanitarian services and programs. The Red Cross is not a government
agency; it relies on donations of time, money, and blood to do its work.
