The American Red Cross of Alaska is seeking volunteers for a variety of positions in the area.
In Alaska, more than 700 people volunteer with the Red Cross by providing emergency assistance to military families, responding to home fires in the middle of the night, providing preparedness information to communities, and more. These individuals are also among the more than 300,000 volunteers who comprise more than 90 percent of the national Red Cross workforce.
Among the Red Cross initiatives impacting Alaskans has been the Home Fire Campaign, which KSRM reported on in March, which aims to provide free smoke detectors and fire safety plans to homes across the state and the peninsula.
Red Cross Regional Communications Officer Cari Dighton: “Some people don’t know, they don’t have the resources, or they have alarms that maybe they can’t reach because they don’t have the right ladder, or they’re not sure how to test them. So, that’s really what we’re going in for. Aside from installing alarms, in as many homes as need them, we also have the second, perhaps more-important part of that goal, the second-half of that goal: talk with families about home fire safety. Talk about testing your smoke alarms every month, making sure that you have fire escape plans, that you know how to get out of your house in two minutes. So, that plan is really key. Also, making sure that everybody knows two exits in every room, and if there are meeting spots outside away from the danger, that everybody knows where that meeting spot is.”
Right now, the positions open are:
- Volunteer Recruitment Team Member, who assist in developing and implementing plans to bring new volunteers to the Red Cross.
- Disaster Action Team Member, who assist individuals and families who have been impacted by a home fire or other local disaster.
- Social Media Team Member, who assist in delivering the mission by supporting public affairs and social media.
- Disaster Preparedness Presenter, who educate individuals and groups on how to be prepared before a disaster occurs.
To learn more, visit RedCross.org/Volunteer or contact Kaitlin.Donnelly@redcross.org.
Last year, Red Cross of Alaska volunteers provided food, shelter, comfort, and hope to 1,096 people affected by home fires and other disasters across the state. They also helped train 19,665 Alaskans in lifesaving skills and exchanged 1,299 emergency messages between military members and their families.