It's a Great Day to Be a Volunteer

Yesterday was the start of National Volunteer Week. We are truly blessed here at the Greater Salt Lake Area Chapter of the American Red Cross with extraordinary volunteers who do extraordinary things for their community’s everyday.

I feel humbled and honored to be a part of such an amazing group of individuals who are dedicated to preparing our state for emergencies and providing relief to individuals affected by disaster.

The simple things make all the difference. Not everyone can respond to the disasters when they occur, but here at the Red Cross we have individuals on call every week, willing to respond at any time of the day or night.

Our incredible Records Manager is Wendy Griffin. She volunteers full time inputting class records and training new volunteers. Her hard work is a valuable asset to this organization and we would not be able to thrive without her.

Countless volunteers are in the office all day, working hard for no pay. They sacrifice their time and sometimes sanity to do the work that allows volunteers to deploy to national disasters, engage new volunteers, organize paperwork, and enter donations that come in the mail, input data, and a myriad of other tasks.

Even more volunteers are on e-mail lists, ready to respond if we need their photography skills at a house fire, their second language skills to help translate for families, their time to educate the community.

And thousands more volunteers are trained in life-saving skills such as CPR and First Aid. They are ready to respond if someone is choking at a restaurant or someone in their household has a heart attack.

I am lucky to be surrounded by these individuals everyday. And if I could manage I would thank each one of you personally. So any volunteers reading this blog: THANK YOU!! The Red Cross is lucky to have you.

Check out our website for more information about Volunteer Week.

All volunteers receive a discount at the Red Cross Store, through May 15th, use the code Volunteer2010.

All volunteers with Crossnet Access can print a 15% off coupon for Macy's Department Store.

Questions? Contact our volunteer coordinator Kellie Mieremet at 801-323-7023.