Students will now have another option for volunteering on and off campus, with the beginning of UW-Green Bay's first ever Red Cross Club. Mike Crum, a sophomore social work major and president of the Red Cross Club, said the club is a student organization that will provide opportunities for students to get involved in the community through things like CPR training, disaster training and volunteering. Crum said he wanted to start the club after attending the fall OrgSmorg and feeling like there wasn't a club to meet his needs. That, coupled with Crum working at the Red Cross, provided him with the opportunity to gauge interest in beginning a club on campus. From there, he approached Jody Weyers, a volunteer and communications director for the Lakeland Chapter of the American Red Cross, who helped him to begin the organization on campus. "I've actually wanted to get a club here (in Green Bay), being that we have two universities, St. Norbert and UWGB, as a way to engage younger volunteers," Weyers said. "Our national office has a program and other Red Crosses have already well-established clubs." Crum said he wants students to realize what the Red Cross is all about. "I want more younger students to realize that Red Cross is more than just donating blood," Crum said. "When I say 'I work for the Red Cross,' it's always 'Oh, you do blood,' It's kind of a pet peeve, so there's a whole broader range of things I want to introduce people to and let them know it's more than just one service. It's a multitude of things that a lot of people really don't know about or understand how they works." An informational meeting will be held Feb. 4 at 3:30 p.m. in the Heritage Room. The club will then have a booth at OrgSmorg on Feb. 11, which will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Phoenix rooms. Following that, the first meeting for the group will be Feb. 18 at 3:30 p.m. in the Heritage Room. There, they will decide on officers for the group as well as set a regular meeting time and place. What club members will be specifically doing will be determined by the club after the initial first meeting, Crum said. "Part of our mission as the Red Cross is helping people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies," Weyers said. "It's really kind of open and up in the air right now because we really want the members of the club to decide some of the different directions they want to take it. It's a student organization, not me dictating, 'This is what I want you to do.'" Crum said the experience will also be a good resume builder for students. "If you are looking to either build a resume or need community hours for your degree program, it would be a great opportunity to get community hours," Crum said. "Helping with people and working with people, especially if you are in the human services field, you're going to have to know how to deal with people. This would be a great start." Volunteer opportunities are flexible, Weyers said, and they can be worked around school or work schedules. "Even if they necessarily can't make the meetings, there are other areas for majors for like pre-med and education where we have volunteer opportunities that really fit well with those majors. Nowadays it's all about building that resume and really setting yourself apart in the job world," Weyers said. The local chapter of the Red Cross is the Lakeland Chapter, which serves eight counties. In Wisconsin, it serves the counties of Brown, Door, Kewaunee, Shawano, Oconto, Menominees and Marinette. In Michigan, it serves Menominee County. Weyers said the bulk of what the Lakeland Chapter responds to are single-family or multi-unit apartment or house fires. Crum said the Red Cross helps out around the world with humanitarian needs as well as providing assistance with disaster relief. "Our main mission focus is disaster relief and providing for people's immediate emergency needs and then playing in there is that preparedness component-making a disaster plan, having a disaster supplies kit, being trained in first aid/CPR. Those all fit under there," Weyers said. "We are a humanitarian organization led by volunteers." Crum encourages everybody to get involved and meet new people. "Don't be shy," he said. "It's a social organization as well, so you're meeting new people, making new contacts on campus and off campus as well; working with police departments, fire departments, different things like that." "I'm excited to see this into fruition," Weyers said. "This is a way to engage the younger generation. Then hopefully they'll get a really good experience and knowledge base of the Red Cross and continue that through their lifetime." Interested students can attend one of the meetings or e-mail Crum at crumsm19@uwgb.edu or Weyers at weyersj@arclakelandorg. Students can also connect with the group via its Facebook group, American Red Cross Club of UWGB.
Fourth Estate Face of the Week
Red Cross Club
Published: Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Updated: Monday, August 30, 2010 17:08
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