The Utah County chapter of the American Red Cross needs volunteers able to leave on 14- or 21-day assignments to the scenes of national disasters.
Disaster Action Team volunteers must be willing to travel on as little as one day's notice. Currently, volunteers from Utah County are in Grand Forks, N.D., assisting flood victims."National disasters can be devastating, and it gives the victims hope when other people come help them," said Karen Campbell, emergency services director at the Red Cross. Campbell said assisting disaster victims may be the hardest, but most rewarding, work volunteers will ever do.
"I know if we had a national disaster in Utah, Red Cross volunteers from around the country would come here to help us," Campbell said. "What our slogan says is true: Help can't wait."
Disaster Action Team volunteers may be asked to drive an emergency response vehicle, serve food, distribute cleanup kits and provide "stress counseling" to victims who need to express their emotions.
Tom Miller of American Fork traveled with the Disaster Action Team to Florida in 1992 to help victims of Hurricane Andrew. Miller recalled being approached by a woman whose condominium had been destroyed. Embarrassed at having to receive assistance, the woman began to cry.
"I asked her if she had ever helped anyone before, and she said yes," Miller said. "Then it's only coming back to you now," I told her.
The American Red Cross will pay all expenses of Disaster Action Team volunteers, who must be in good health.
For those who would like to volunteer but are unable to leave the state, help is needed locally. Introduction to disaster relief classes for all volunteers will be held at the Utah County Red Cross building on Wednesday evenings beginning June 18.
Other volunteer opportunities are available throughout Utah County. Some of these opportunities include:
- Empower adults to be more employable. Project Read is looking for volunteers to provide one-on-one tutoring to beginning and low-level adult readers. Volunteers, who must be 18 and older, will teach reading and writing skills for three hours each week on a schedule of their choice. The Project Read office is open from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Training will be provided.
- Befriend lonely seniors. Mountainland Aging Services often needs volunteers to visit elderly individuals. Currently a male volunteer is needed to visit a socially isolated elderly man in Payson. The volunteer can choose a two-hour period on one afternoon during the week to make his visits.
- Participate in a large-scale service event. The city of Orem needs volunteers to help paint and repair homes, landscape yards, and clean up the Cherry Hill 2 neighborhood May 12-17 as part of BLITZ '97. Volunteers are also needed to distribute community information and assist with the celebration picnic.
For more information about these and other volunteer opportunities throughout Utah County, contact the United Way Volunteer Center at 374-8108 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or visit the United Way of Utah County Web site at (www.utahcounty.unitedway.org).