American Red Cross seeking volunteers in Coosa County
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By Christa Jennings
Senior Staff Writer
The American Red Cross has critical volunteer needs in Coosa County and is reaching out to the community seeking volunteers to help serve the area.
Red Cross serve in various capacities in the communities or from their homes and serve in various ways, such as responding to local disasters like house fires. However, the American Red Cross currently has no volunteers in Coosa County to assist the organization.
One such way that Coosa County residents can volunteer with Red Cross and help in the community is by serving as a Disaster Action Team volunteer, which is especially needed in the area.
Red Cross Disaster Services responds to numerous disasters every year, from a home fire affecting a single household to larger emergencies affecting an entire community or region of the country. Red Cross volunteers provide shelter, food, relief supplies, and a shoulder to lean on, providing care for others in a time of need.
Individuals can serve on a Disaster Action Team as a volunteer to provide immediate support and assistance to individuals and families who have been impacted by a home fire or other local disaster.
These volunteers help ensure that those impacted have access to resources for basic necessities such as food, shelter and clothing.
While that is the primary need in Coosa County, there are other ways for individuals to volunteer with the American Red Cross, as well.
Individuals can serve as a health services volunteer to provide hands-on care for shelter clients to include, but not limited to, assistance with activities of daily living, wound care and assistance with functional needs. However, licensure is required to volunteer with health services.
Those who live close to a Red Cross shelter can also volunteer to work in person at a Red Cross shelter before, during and/or after a disaster to help support day-to-day activities in reception, registration, feeding, dormitory, information collection, and more.
Others can volunteer to help with biomedical services, such as when the American Red Cross is hosting a blood drive in the area.
The Red Cross helps millions of people every year through its Blood Services program. Last year the American Red Cross collected approximately 4.8 million units from about 2.8 million volunteer donors.
Blood donor ambassadors are volunteers who greet donors, help them register, provide them with drinks if needed, and thank them “for donating the gift of life.” There is only a 6-hour commitment per month for blood donor ambassadors.
The American Red Cross of the Alabama-Mississippi Region also offers a variety of virtual programs to help people better prepare for emergencies. To learn more about the classes or register, visit www.redcross.org/AlabamaMississippiPrepare.
To learn more about volunteer opportunities and how to apply, visit www.redcross.org/volunteer.
Sandy Zuiderhoek, regional volunteer services recruitment specialist with the American Red Cross of Alabama and Mississippi, is the one coordinating and seeking volunteers to help meet the critical need in Coosa County.
Those interested in reaching out to her directly for more information can email her at sandy.zuiderhoek@redcross.org or call or text her at 334-201-1620 for more information.
Zuiderhoek also asks that any organizations or agencies who have time and opportunity for the American Red Cross to do a presentation to please contact her to let her know so that she can arrange that in order to help get the word out about Coosa County not having any Red Cross volunteers and the critical need they have in the county for volunteers.
