Welcome to the American Red Cross

Welcome | The Next Million Volunteers | How to Get Involved

Approximately 1.2 million people volunteer for the American Red Cross, and volunteers make up 97% of all American Red Cross staff. An additional 40,000 nurses assist in all our lines of service in a wide variety of capacities. Our volunteers come from all walks of life, and over 40% of our volunteers are people under the age of 25.

If you are currently one of the million-plus volunteers who provide American Red Cross services to the community each year— thank you for helping us deliver our promise that "We'll be there!"

If you are a potential volunteer, welcome.

Every day, the American Red Cross helps people in emergencies. . . whether it is half a million disaster victims or one sick child who needs blood.

Our work is made possible by people like you, people who lend a helping hand. Red Cross volunteers come from all walks of life. They are all ages: young people, nurses, seniors… everyone has something special to offer…

Including you.

You are needed by the Red Cross, right now.

Contact your local Red Cross. Find out how your knowledge, skills, abilities, how your experience, your ideas, your enthusiasm, your connections to the community can be matched with a meaningful volunteer experience.

This is a great time to get involved.

Who are Red Cross volunteers?
Some volunteers help with a single event, some Red Cross volunteers have been involved for over eighty years providing community services, leadership, organizing blood drives and helping to prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies. Fred, a biology professor at a university in Arkansas, and Ann and Frank, disaster volunteers in New Jersey, assist the Red Cross during their vacation.

Young people like Sead and Jessica give their time to the Red Cross as do "Noteworthy Neighbors" like Angela Kim and Scott Persner, high school seniors who became peer counselors, and Donald Brown, II, a ten-year old who saved his mother's life during a car accident.

Not every American Red Cross volunteer or employee will have the opportunity to save a life, but the American Red Cross provides over one million opportunities each year to people just like you to make a difference and to provide service to your community.

Opportunities for Hands-On Community Service
Please see our Volunteer Opportunities Checklist or How to Get Involved.

Join the Next Million American Red Cross Volunteers

Welcome | The Next Million Volunteers | How to Get Involved

Ten years ago a study called Volunteer 2000 affirmed the critical importance of volunteers to the work of the American Red Cross. Today Volunteer 2000's recommendations are still relevant, but they do not go far enough— they do not address all of the needs and expectations of individuals entering the volunteer world for the first time in the year 2001.

Just ten years ago, we did not imagine we would have over 3,000 mental health volunteers counseling the families of airplane crash victims. What will we be doing ten years from now? The Red Cross will continue to assist people affected by single family fires or major disasters, collect blood and help military families. But what role will our volunteers play in the dreadful event that a community experiences a biological terrorist attack, and what new situations will arise that require our involvement?

Who will be these new volunteers, our next million volunteers?
We are looking to young people who are increasingly interested in volunteering, to those people who have retired at an early age and could bring their valuable skills to the Red Cross. Currently, many of the American Red Cross volunteer opportunities require long hours of training and a sustained time commitment. We will always need these highly trained volunteers, with the ability to spend weeks away from their families and their jobs. However, we also must find ways to involve new volunteers who do not have as much time to spare, such as creating opportunities for groups to volunteer on short term, specific projects.

"Join our next million volunteers - contact the Red Cross chapter that serves your community, you will be glad you did."
-Mary DeKuyper, American Red Cross National Chair of Volunteers

Volunteer
Each year 1.2 million Americans get involved serving their communities as American Red Cross volunteers. Join the next million Red Cross volunteers.

On the left-hand navigation bar of this page you will find a Zip Code Locator (where it says "Find Your Local Red Cross"). It is simple to use. Enter your zip code at home, or work, or of the location in which you would like to serve. Press enter and you will be directed to the local Red Cross unit nearest your desired location.

Volunteer Match
Over 100 local American Red Cross units list volunteer opportunities on the VolunteerMatch website. VolunteerMatch, the organization's premier service, utilizes the power of the Internet to help individuals nationwide find volunteer opportunities posted by local nonprofit and public sector organizations.

VolunteerMatch's powerful online database allows volunteers to search thousands of one-time and ongoing opportunities by zip code, category, and date. Then signup automatically by email for those that fit their interest and schedule. Contributing organizations post their own opportunities, giving volunteers easy access to an accurate and diverse source of activities.

SERVEnet
SERVEnet is a program of /services/volunteer/0,1082,0_48_,00.html Service America(YSA), a resource center and the premier alliance of 200+ organizations committed to increasing the quantity and quality of opportunities for young Americans to serve locally, nationally, or globally. YSA's mission is to strengthen the Effectiveness, Sustainability, and Scale of the /services/volunteer/0,1082,0_48_,00.html service movement. YSA envisions a powerful network of organizations committed to making service the common experience and expectation of all young Americans. A strong /services/volunteer/0,1082,0_48_,00.html service movement will create healthy communities, and foster citizenship, knowledge, and the personal development of young people.

Through SERVEnet, users can enter their zip code, city, state, skills, interests, and availability and be matched with organizations needing help. SERVEnet is also a place to search for calendar events, job openings, service news, recommended books, and best practices.