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To The Leader

According to a report by NOAA, in 2020, a record-smashing 22 weather or climate related disasters within the United States resulted in at least $1 billion in damages each. Since 1980, there have been 285 disasters reaching that threshold with 124 of them occurring in Texas alone.

To prepare for the upcoming storm season, the American Red Cross Texas Gulf Coast is actively recruiting to grow the number of local emergency volunteers.

Red Cross is a familiar sight when a major disaster occurs, but you may not know our volunteers give the same level of care and compassion to people who experience a home fire. We respond to home fires every day, including during major disasters and it is the number one emergency we respond to.

“The need for volunteers is constant,” said Chester Jourdan Executive Director, American Red Cross of Southeast and Deep East Texas. “On average, the Red Cross responds to a disaster every eight minutes, many of which are home fires. Please join us as we prepare for the upcoming storm season and help make sure no one faces life’s emergencies alone.”

To ensure there is an ample supply of disaster-trained volunteers, Red Cross is offering a fast-track boot camp training session in April to build volunteer capacity in sheltering and local disaster response with more to come.

The virtual sessions will be held April 9 – 11

To register and be ready when disaster strikes visit:

Local disaster response position:  https://rdcrss.org/39jjKcr

We need volunteers who are team-oriented and want to make a difference. Team members will mostly respond virtually to provide compassionate and immediate care and assistance to those impacted. On occasion, a larger response may require some on-scene presence and coordination.

Sheltering team position: https://rdcrss.org/2PvGPBN

We need volunteers to help staff shelter reception, registration, feeding, dormitory, information collection and other vital tasks to help those we serve.

For more updates, follow the American Red Cross Texas Gulf Coast on Twitter and Facebook @RedCrossTXGC. You can also visit https://www.redcross.org/local/texas/gulf-coast.html or call 1-800-REDCROSS