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The last few weeks have been busy ones for Cindy Baillargeon, a Red Cross volunteer from the Lanaudière region of Quebec: she spent them in Alberta, helping out Fort McMurray evacuees. When she saw images of the wildfires on the news, she knew that the Red Cross was bound to be involved. It wasn’t long before the call for volunteers came through, and she accepted without a second thought.

My family recently found ourselves on a Caribbean island where we were having a wonderful vacation. My husband and I have always loved the water and once upon a time were both lifeguards in Canada (let's just call us 'retired'). With two young children, we respect the ocean and are always looking for opportunities to talk over safety in the water, taking the opportunity in this case to explore ocean currents and what they mean when we're thinking about cooling off in the ocean.

So, why did I volunteer with the Red Cross? The Red Cross presented an opportunity for me to volunteer my skills as a semi-professional communications person and write about the indispensable people of the Red Cross and tell their stories. 

Last week, across the country, the Canadian Red Cross has been thanking its many generous volunteers for National Volunteer Week (April 10-16). We have been sharing messages of gratitude from the Canadian Red Cross and encouraged others to do the same. Check out some of the great photos shared with #ThankAVolunteer throughout the week.

For Ted Itani, volunteering has been a “marvelous opportunity to give back to society what society has given me over my lifetime...”  Ted was recently appointed to the Order of Canada in recognition of his dedication to humanitarian and peacekeeping work around the world. 

Here at the Red Cross, we can’t do what we do without volunteers! We get a lot of questions from people wondering how they can volunteer with the Red Cross as an international aid worker. Here's what we look for in an international aid worker. 

This week (April 10-16) is National Volunteer Week, so we’re honouring our incredible volunteers by sharing a few of their stories as well as heartfelt gratitude. At the Canadian Red Cross, we have around 20,000 volunteers who give their time and skills in helping others.

We’re so lucky Nicole Fassina is a new Red Cross recruit! Not only did she fly all the way from Tajikistan to take part in Canadian Red Cross training, but she can rap with the best of them, and is a Terry Fox Award winner. Recently, Nicole was one of 26 people, along with doctors, nurses, technicians, administrators and other professionals, who attended Canadian Red Cross IMPACT training in Ottawa. IMPACT stands for International Mobilization and Preparation for Action, and helps prepare people to work on a range of Red Cross international operations.