August has passed by quickly, and many students have started school virtually. Because of this, many students can not participate in extracurricular activities like they have done in previous years. Therefore, many students are looking for online volunteer opportunities and internships. Students who are searching for opportunities that give them not only volunteer hours, but also help them gain knowledge and experience, should consider working with the Red Cross.
For those who have a challenging time finding an extracurricular activity, working with the Red Cross is a great opportunity. The Red Cross hosts virtual volunteer calls that help students gain knowledge and volunteer hours for school. One can apply to a Red Cross Youth Crops and get started right away. Applying to be a Red Cross volunteer is fast and easy, as it is all done online through their website.
The Red Cross Youth Crops in Glendale, California hosts various virtual meetings to help students adjust to online school. For example, on August 28, 2020, the Glendale Chapter presented a virtual meeting for “Enhancing your Environment.” In this meeting, the Glendale executive board showed a presentation on how to decorate your room to be a place where you can both work and rest. In addition, volunteers explained how to clean your room in the most effective way and which music to listen to during studying or completing homework. The meeting also incorporated a fun aspect by asking volunteers to share their opinions and giving pop quizzes that required guessing song names. This meeting was very informative, even though it was in a virtual setting.
There are also many opportunities to volunteer that are not through the Red Cross Glendale Youth Corps. During the months of August and September, the San Gabriel Valley Youth Corps hosted a virtual SGV Youth Summit for students in 6-12th grade. This summit was free and consisted of many workshops for students to participate in. A few topics presented in the meeting were first aid, staying healthy during quarantine, and suicide. The meetings were usually Tuesdays and Fridays from 2:30 – 3:10 pm. Students received a certificate for each session they attended to certify their volunteer hours. There are also many virtual tournaments like the Red Cross EDGE tournament that was open to all volunteers. This tournament was very simple; students just had to simply take online courses from the Red Cross EDGE portal. The variety of courses informed students on issues about food safety to disaster preparedness. At the end of this tournament, students got their volunteer hours in the amount of time they took these courses and also received prizes.
The Red Cross has many opportunities for high school students who are having trouble finding ways to volunteer. For students that are in need of these opportunities, the Red Cross is a great option that many should consider.
