Volunteers 16

At first glance, it’s hard to understand what Pat Alphonse Cox does for the Canadian Red Cross. Volunteering at the Winnipeg reception centre for wildfire evacuees, Pat chats for a few minutes with a large, boisterous family from Pauingassi First Nation; corrals a small, energetic child closer to her mom; and then sits quietly with a slouching teenager. It all seems a little random, but on closer examination, Pat’s role becomes clear and her work crucial. Pat is a Safety and Wellbeing responder with the Canadian Red Cross.

Left Fort McMurray today after an exhausting but incredibly satisfying experience. The emotion of what you do, see and hear each day during a disaster is not easily described. I saw the devastation and felt the void of an evacuated city but I was also moved by hundreds of remarkable people!

Two members of the Simon Fraser University (SFU) Red Cross Club are showing other young people how to turn their passion into action. Students Jessilyn Wong and Daniel Jin volunteer with the Canadian Red Cross Disaster Management logistics team, arranging vehicles, supplying technology, and taking inventory of supplies that helped the Red Cross assist thousands of people forced from their homes by last summer’s B.C. wildfires. 

Even before he left Iran, 22-year-old Mohammad H. Asadi Lari knew he wanted to volunteer with the Red Cross. Now the B.C. volunteer works with the Youth Advisory Committee to engage youth and young adults with international humanitarian work done by both the Red Cross and Canada as a whole.

A note to new or aspiring volunteers: “I know this volunteer position will be one of the most rewarding thing you’ve ever done. To help a fellow citizen in a time of disaster will make you feel unbelievably great.”

Hello from Halifax! Thirteen years ago, I looked into volunteering somewhere where I could help people and make a difference in my community. I decided to check out a Canadian Red Cross volunteer orientation session and after reviewing the various positions, applied to become a member of the emergency response team.

National Volunteer Week is the perfect opportunity to thank the people who selflessly rush to help others during disasters and emergencies, assist with prevention and safety initiatives, or provide community health and wellness services. We are so thankful to the thousands of volunteers who make our work possible. We asked a few of our amazing volunteers why they dedicate their time and efforts into helping others and here is what some had to say:

For Andrew DeGruchy, volunteering is a part of his life. The 30-year-old has been a volunteer firefighter and Lieutenant with Cold Lake Fire-Rescue for eight years. When evacuees from the La Ronge, Saskatchewan area were sheltered in Cold Lake, he got a first-hand look at the work Canadian Red Cross volunteers do; and that prompted him to become part of the disaster management team.