And I'm off... well almost!

Well I got the call from the Red Cross this afternoon. I am going to Baton Rouge and working within the Family Services segment of the Red Cross, as soon as possible. I will be filling out forms for people to receive their Red Cross debit cards. I am waiting a few minutes to call the company in charge of travel arrangements for the Red Cross...they seem to be swamped right now. I will update my blog as soon as I find out more information about where and when.

Yet another reason to hate WALMART

You know those credit/debit cards that the Red Cross is handing out to victims of Hurricane Katrina, to help by a few of life's little necessities? Well, they come from various banks (Chase, Citi, US Bank) with either a Visa or Mastercard logo on them, and allow the cardholder to use them just like any other credit or debit card. They are taken anywhere Visa or Mastercard is accepted, except WALMART. This is absolutely abhorrent. I cannot believe that the largest retailer in the nation refuses to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, especially considering that many of the victims, if not all, were patrons, or even employees. WALMART SUCKS!

So the above link takes you to a great site listing the various lies Walmart promotes in some of its advertisements. To see more sites like this, just go to google and type in Walmart Sucks.

Red Cross Training: Night Two

On the second night of Red Cross training, we all took the same seats as the evening before, and continued the awkward conversations from the evening before waiting for the class to begin. The big difference this time was that most of us had prepared for the stifling hot room as we hadn't the night before. This preparation included shorts and bottles of water. The instructors began the class by telling us that the national Red Cross office had specifically asked that our training be switched to Family Services training rather than the Shelter Simulation we were scheduled to take. I don't know how the class really felt about this; I think that most people were kind of confused as to everything going on, and not really feeling as if they had learned anything like myself. The instructors seemed to be kind of sad that they weren't going to get to put on a Shelter Simulation; after all, they kept referring to this as the "fun part of the training."

So you're probably asking yourself what exactly Family Services does within the Red Cross. I was wondering the same thing. Well, you know those Red Cross debit/credit cards that are in the news? Well we were trained on Wednesday how to fill out all of the appropriate paperwork, determine the amount each client (the Red Cross calls all of the people it helps clients, which I think is a nice touch), and activate the cards for each recipient.

This seems like a lot of power to give people who have been trained for barely four hours but we are actually just form-filler-out monkeys. The amount of money that the people receive is not just decided willy-nilly by some retired teacher or a college student volunteering for the disaster. There is a formula that differs for each disaster and each location that determines how much money the client receives. For example, there are three adults in the household, and all of them have lost their clothes. The chart says that for each adult, the Red Cross will provide $130. So for the three adults this is $390. And so on, and so on...

This may not really seem like a lot of money for new clothes, but the Red Cross only attends to immediate needs (those that need to be met within fifteen days). For all other needs, the Red Cross refers people to different agencies such as the Mennonites and the Salvation Army. It is actually pretty interesting.

On top of our official positions as pencil pushing drones, we are supposed to be a part of the grieving process for the clients. From what the trainers told us, many of the people within the shelters are still in shock. Because of this they are not thinking about things like getting new clothes. We are supposed to be kind of bringing them back to reality by asking questions to help them begin to move on. Some of the questions are things like "What are your plans for a home in the future?" This is going to be awfully rough on the people, and the volunteers I have a feeling.

Additionally we are supposed to be on the look out for people who need some mental help. We are often the people who catch this, the instructors told us.

So we learned how to fill out forms etc, now what? At the end of class, we had to go through a short five question verbal pseudo interview. The questions were basically the same as those we answered the first evening of class. After answering we were handed little Red Cross cards for our wallets listing the courses we had completed. As of Wednesday evening I am certified by the Red Cross in:

• Sheltering
• Mass Care: An Overview
• Introduction to Disaster Services
• Family Services: Providing Emergency Assistance

Even though I attended all of the training I still am unprepared to do any of these things. I am sure that this is natural and that most of the people in the class feel like this, but it is still a little overwhelming to know that I am certified to help people in the hardest time of their lives. I guess that that is something you really cant be prepared for. I think most of it has to be learned when you get to the area you are helping in.

Now this is what is supposed to happen next:

1. The Red Cross calls within twenty four hours of your leaving, informing you of your location, what you need to bring, etc.
2. You go to the Red Cross and pick up a packet with an airline ticket and a fifty dollar Red Cross credit card.
3. You board the plane and fly to your location.
4. You train at your job in your destination for a day or so with someone who is currently doing the job.
5. You work your three weeks, either sleeping in a hotel or the shelter, depending on resources.
6. You come home.

Now all I have to do is wait.

Red Cross Training: Night One

So I went to the first night of Red Cross training all excited to learn things that I should already know like CPR and First Aid. The classes are currently being held in a giant local church. When we all arrived in class (fifty or so of us I guess, with the majority being part of the retired set) we were handed a giant packet of forms to fill out and a name tag with our names still smelly from the Sharpie used to write them. Part of the paperwork contained in the ginormous packet resembled a job application. Some of it asked the filler-outer if they had things like stitches (doesn't win you points when trying to volunteer for a disaster I'm guessing). But most of the papers contained in the packet were for purposes that I am still not even sure of. The mystery forms had spots for signatures and all of the codes written up on the giant white board for us to use on our mystery forms.
Anyway, once the commotion of the form filling out was finished, we were treated to a decade-old video about the Red Cross's role in helping those in need hosted by William Baldwin (you know the cute one). This movie was an excrutiating hour and a half long. It wouldn't have been so bad if the room wasn't stiflingly hot and the television smaller than the one in my living room. I can honestly say that I didn't learn a thing from this video.
After the hell of this video, we were allowed to take a half hour dinner break in the much cooler out doors. Upon returns to the classroom we watched videos about how to set up a shelter, and how to feed massive amounts of people. These videos were a bit more exciting, but did use quite a few clips from the Billy Baldwin video.
As the evening closed we were told that we would finish our course on sheltering and then move on to an actual Shelter Simulation which would take most of the next night's five hour class. (Oh, I forgot to mention that this class was five hours long. With the implementation of the horrid movies, this is enough to make even the most patient of people start to act like ADD-afflicted three year olds.)

Red Cross Adventure: Preliminaries

So the plus side of not being able to find a job is being able to leave town at a moment's notice for weeks at a time. This is exactly what I am doing in the next week or so with the Red Cross. I have never volunteered with the Red Cross before, nor have I been to the part of the country affected by Hurricane Katrina. This is going to be quite the adventure for me.
I wrote the Red Cross an email explaining that I wanted to do something for those affected by the hurricane but that I did not have the money to contribute financially. I wrote that I was more than willing to go to the region and volunteer that way. To my surprise, someone from the local Red Cross called me the very next morning and asked me questions about my willingness to volunteer. They ranged anywhere from:

• "Can you make a commitment of three weeks?" and,
  
• " Do you feel comfortable sleeping in an open-air dormitory?" to the ever popular,
  
• "Do you have any open wounds?"
  

After several more questions, the volunteer on the other end of the phone told me that they were at that moment (last Tuesday) compiling a list of people who wanted to volunteer. He told me that I would probably hear from them in the next couple of weeks. He asked if I had any questions, but I couldn't think of any at the moment. He said that they felt the same way as I did; no one knew exactly what was going to happen and when.
To my surprise a nice lady from the Red Cross called on Friday morning. I was not home but she left a message with my boyfriend, telling me to call as soon as I got in. After returning from a lovely afternoon at
Art in the Park, I called the lady back and she scheduled me for training for deployment on Tuesday and Wednesday evening. Wow! This is all moving very fast, and it is very exciting!
I have to admit, I have been in kind of a rut, getting quite depressed about not being able to find a job. This is exactly what I need; a way to get over myself while helping out those who really need it.
I will keep you posted as to the contents of the upcoming training sessions.