volunteering: red cross

Years and years ago, back when I was in college, my parents did a very cool thing for me. They gave me a summer “on”. If I promised to work a volunteer job for the summer, they would help pay for my rent, car insurance and food. I only had to promise to work a full-time volunteer job for the whole summer.

Sometimes I wish I had tried to look further afield, but I found a nice position at a Red Cross office near my school in upstate New York. Though my other school summers I somewhat ironically spent at IBM, that one summer I did something truly interesting. While much of what I did was repetitive and not intellectually taxing, I learned quite a lot about the Red Cross, what they did and what I could do to help. By the end of the summer, I knew I wanted to be a Red Cross Disaster Volunteer.

Over the past twenty years, that desire has kept bubbling up over and over again. Unfortunately, I’ve let my own anxieties and “time deficiency” get in the way of stepping up to step out of my comfort zone and become that volunteer that I’ve hoped to be for so long.

Over the past year, I’ve been slowly overcoming my own fears of inadequacy and am now trying to step up to the plate. I’ve gone through our city’s CAPS (Citizens Assisting Public Safety) programs for both fire and police. I’ve handed out band-aids and directed traffic. I’ve attended a “SKYWARN Stormspotter” class all on my own in a far off place (Lawrenceville).

And this weekend, I brought myself even closer to my longtime goal … I attended a seven hour Red Cross class on running an emergency shelter. The very first step towards stepping up my volunteer activities. I may be 42 now instead of 22, but it isn’t too late. It is never too late.

I am here to help.