English Blog Categories 135

My family recently found ourselves on a Caribbean island where we were having a wonderful vacation. My husband and I have always loved the water and once upon a time were both lifeguards in Canada (let's just call us 'retired'). With two young children, we respect the ocean and are always looking for opportunities to talk over safety in the water, taking the opportunity in this case to explore ocean currents and what they mean when we're thinking about cooling off in the ocean.

So, why did I volunteer with the Red Cross? The Red Cross presented an opportunity for me to volunteer my skills as a semi-professional communications person and write about the indispensable people of the Red Cross and tell their stories. 

The Round-up offers a weekly sample of what our sister Red Cross Societies are working on around the world.

Last week, across the country, the Canadian Red Cross has been thanking its many generous volunteers for National Volunteer Week (April 10-16). We have been sharing messages of gratitude from the Canadian Red Cross and encouraged others to do the same. Check out some of the great photos shared with #ThankAVolunteer throughout the week.

A state of emergency has been declared in Ecuador following a powerful, 7.8 earthquake that hit the coastal province of Esmeraldas on April 17. Hundreds of people have lost their lives, or have been injured – and thousands have been impacted by the disaster. The earthquake struck 173km from Ecuador’s capital Quito, and caused serious damage to buildings, infrastructure, the electricity supply, and highways that are needed to deliver assistance. 

For Ted Itani, volunteering has been a “marvelous opportunity to give back to society what society has given me over my lifetime...”  Ted was recently appointed to the Order of Canada in recognition of his dedication to humanitarian and peacekeeping work around the world. 

Here at the Red Cross, we can’t do what we do without volunteers! We get a lot of questions from people wondering how they can volunteer with the Red Cross as an international aid worker. Here's what we look for in an international aid worker. 

Participants crouch down in groups on the ground of a hotel in Ottawa with dried spaghetti sticks and marshmallows. The aim of the team-building exercise is to work together to come up with a way to create the highest structure topped by a marshmallow. The exercise is part of a training of future Red Cross Operations Managers.