Hi everyone,
To those that signed the interest sheet that we had today during Club Day at our booth, this does not mean you are now in the club, it only means that you are interested in receiving emails until our first club meeting, October 27th. This will be an overview email of the basic information you may want to know about the American Red Cross club at our school.
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WHAT DOES TPHS ARC DO?
It would be very surprising if some of you guys haven't heard of the American Red Cross sometime during your life. The Red Cross is a very prestigious non-profit organization that has global outreach and was founded in 1881 primarily for disaster relief.
We are another humanitarian community service club on campus, except we strive to go above and beyond because we are affiliated with the American Red Cross (something that any member should be extremely proud of) and so we do Red Cross-specific events as well. Many clubs on campus do regular community service events (helping out as volunteers at marathons, festivals, carnivals, etc.), and we do too! However, since we're the American Red Cross we're something slightly more special in the aspect that we also do Red Cross-only events (blood drives, disaster fundraisers, CPR events, etc.)!
HOW DO YOU JOIN TPHS ARC?
To join the club, you must fill out the
online application, which is available
<here>. When you join, you are stating that you will work hard at being an active member in the club and to uphold the honor of being a party of the American Red Cross. You are also thus agreeing to
club policy, available for reading on our extended site, which is linked to
<here>.
WHEN ARE MEETINGS AND HOW EXACTLY CAN YOU GET INVOLVED?
Meetings are every other Thursday in Mrs. Olson's room (Rm. 24). Our first meeting will be October 27, 2011, and if you attend this meeting a lot more information will be given out about the Red Cross and our club itself (since all of it can't possibly be typed here).
Every weekend, (or sometimes every other weekend) we have the regular community service events that were mentioned earlier. These include 5K runs that we work at the water stations for, festivals where we help out the kids that attend with arts and crafts, etc. (these are only some examples). If you sign up for the club you are not obligated to go to every single event we offer, these are just different opportunities that we give to you to help you reach your goal of hours in helping the community. When you come to club meetings, you will be able to pick and choose which events, if any, you would like to attend that week or month. Please keep in mind, however, that to be considered an actual active member, you need to meet the requirements listed on the club policy page.
WHAT ABOUT DISASTER RELIEF?
Disaster relief is a big part of what the Red Cross is known for, so naturally as a branch, we will also participate in disaster relief activities. For example, last year due to the tragic tsunami in Japan, Red Cross responded and our club alone sent more than $400 to the cause from just one fundraising event.
OTHER
We love being able to help out our community, so a significant aspect is to be able to train our members in skills needed to save lives. CPR classes with the Red Cross can reach fees of up to $70, but with our club you'll be able to learn such skills for free.
Being an active member of the Red Cross definitely has its perks!
If you are an extremely impressive member, you could also qualify for scholarships in the future. However, keep in mind that our club does not believe in a reward-for-volunteering policy like some other clubs may. This means that you are not in a trading business where you give your time to serve and we give you something in return. It only means that if you do a particularly good job you will have earned and deserve a reward, not that just because you worked means you should get paid in Red Cross merchandise or scholarships.
That's it for now, this email is getting really long!
Everything else you need to know about the club (and more) is readily available online (at either our website, tphsredcross.blogspot.com, or on our Facebook page -- everything is linked to from our website so you should definitely start there).
Come to our next club meeting guys, I really hope to see you there!
--Katharine Yang, President
TPHS American Red Cross Club
