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Sandra Christie of Halifax has been a Canadian Red Cross volunteer for four years, drawing on her background as a registered nurse to lead a Safety and Wellbeing team that has been providing virtual support by phone to people feeling isolated, anxious or needing unique help addressing issues relating to COVID-19.

Canadian Red Cross volunteer Zoe has brought her skills to several roles from organizing events to answering phones. Read how Zoe's diverse volunteer experience allowed her to discover a new passion. 

During a typical disaster, Red Cross volunteers would check on how someone is coping through a face-to-face visit, however, in keeping with COVID-19 physical distancing requirements, teams are currently doing daily check-ins by phone. In Saskatchewan, volunteers have already made more than 200 wellness check phone calls to people with vulnerabilities being supported in self-isolation.

Volunteering is a part of life for the Jacobs family. Garry Jacobs has volunteered with the Canadian Red Cross in Red Deer, Alberta for 30 years – along with his wife Sandy and now his daughter Jodyne (who volunteers in Strathmore, Alberta). In February, Garry was awarded the highest volunteer honour from the Canadian Red Cross – the Order of Red Cross, for his incredible contributions to the movement.

Canadian Red Cross volunteer Kara Shiestel’s role quickly changed from being a responder to a recipient of care from the Red Cross after arriving in Trenton, Ontario for a period in quarantine. Being on the receiving end of Red Cross support, after training as a volunteer, helped Kara deal with the situation for herself and others.

A couple of years ago, Gwen Schick retired. She discovered that she missed meeting people in the course of her travels for work. So, Gwen started volunteering as a Friendly Phone volunteer with the Canadian Red Cross in Saskatchewan.
The Friendly Phone program pairs volunteers with seniors who feel they could benefit from weekly phone calls. That’s it. 

Normally, when someone loses everything they own in an apartment fire, the Canadian Red Cross Personal Disaster Assistance Team (PDAT) arrives on the scene with blankets and teddy bears to offer warmth and comfort. That’s how it worked before COVID-19.

For International Women’s Day, we’re taking another look at some of the amazing work being done by our staff, volunteers and delegates – it’s inspiring work, by women, for women, and for their communities.