The Volunteerism and Community Service - Essay Example

June 19, My Love for Volunteerism and Community Service Introduction We all know of the International Red Cross and its humanitarian activities throughout the world. The American Red Cross is part of this international organization whose many goals are unquestionable: humanitarian aid, helping victims of calamities and natural catastrophes, and heading disaster relief operations. The American Red Cross has various goals but I can summarize these goals in a simple phrase: to help build lives. Every organizational endeavor of the American Red Cross is to build lives after people are victimized by natural or man-made calamities. The American Red Cross provides material aid, training for safety and rescue, healthcare support, childcare training and every human-needs training needed by people in the community. Without humanitarian organizations like the American Red Cross, we would be at a loss in finding help in times of distress. When I witnessed the activities of the American Red Cross as a volunteer, my aim in mind was to make a difference by helping fellow Americans. When I completed the ten-hour volunteer work, little did I know that it was just a glimpse of a wonderful life of volunteerism. I wanted to transform the ten hours into days, or months, or years. My life was transformed by the short time I experienced in the Red Cross. Journal for the ten-volunteer hours with the American Red Cross First day in my new “job” began with a short orientation. First, I reported at the local office and asked for the person in charge of volunteers. I introduced myself to the designated volunteer supervisor who was too accommodating to provide me with valuable information about volunteerism in the Red Cross. Ms. Claire, the supervisor, asked me to fill up a volunteer form. After that, she briefed me about the jobs of a volunteer. The orientation took place at around nine o’clock in the morning on that peaceful and clear Monday. My request for ten volunteer hours was a short period but she said that my time could be distributed into a week in which I would be able to acquire knowledge and information about volunteerism and the various activities in the organization. We were ten new volunteers, whom Ms. Claire welcomed individually with a hug. She said that we would be given orientation and ‘tour’ and other special training for volunteers. My first day of the week provided me a glimpse of what we would do as volunteers and what the Red Cross has done as an organization. My job was mostly on knowing what the Red Cross has done and can do in times of calamities and disasters. We could not do much as volunteers due to the short time allotted for us but we could assist in the work being done in the office and in orienting ourselves in the various training conducted by the staff. On my second day, I was given a task that I believed was very fruitful in that short time of volunteer work. Ms. Claire asked me if I would like to assist with the baby-sitting activity, one of the training programs provided by the American Red Cross. My job was only to assist the instructor of the training program, Ms. Smith, a retired nurse who has dedicated her life to volunteer work. Ms. Smith gave me a short orientation about baby-sitting. The training was a fruitful experience. I was allotted one-and-half hours for the training but I extended it for another half an hour because I felt that the time was not enough. Baby sitting is a very honorable and humane job. It trains us to become parents. My third day was another exciting day when I was told that the staff was going to conduct training for first aid, ‘cardiopulmonary resuscitation’ (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED). The training team would be conducted by a team of health professionals and the trainees were from the private organization. I was glad that volunteers like me were allowed to witness the training. The required training time for such skill was three days. It included emergency situations on land and water, such as when there are victims of fall or drowning. It was my first time to witness such a training session for emergency situations, but it was a memorable experience. This training covered until my fourth day of volunteer work. On my fifth day, I assisted the blood donation program conducted in a university. The venue for the program was held in the auditorium in which volunteers were from the local community and members of the armed forces. Ms. Claire briefed me of what to do. Since I was not trained in this kind of activity, I was given the task of recording the names and bio-data of the blood donor, including the other tests conducted by Red Cross staff. The donors must first submit for blood checking, if he/she is anaemic or not, or if there is enough haemoglobin in the blood. The remaining hours for my volunteer work were spent interacting with the staff and the rest of the volunteers. I have seen in these people fulfillment in their job which also stimulated my desire to be fulfilled in my time of uncertainty. My volunteer activity and public service I am one of the more than ninety-five million Americans who were born near the turn of the century and are called “millennial”. I want to offer my knowledge and time to provide change for my country and the people I love. For ten hours of volunteer work with the American Red Cross, which was not really volunteer work because it was only sort of a briefing or orientation on my part to see the ways of this humanitarian organization, I was able to reflect within myself that this is the public service effort that I want to share with the American public. But politics and government service are not within my plans. I can do community service and devote a whole lot of my efforts and what I have learned from the university but never will I enter government service. I have nothing to say against government people but I have lost trust in our new breed of politicians. Lessons I learned from volunteerism For those ten hours of volunteer work, I learned many things about myself. There are many things I want to do with my life, but now I became quite a changed individual. First, I am not after for a good job that can provide a good income. I like serving the community, my own way of changing society by giving people what I have, knowledge. Another important thing I learned is about the spiritual side of my being. I have never been religious in life but now I think it is time to look at the spiritual side of things. Volunteerism is a spiritual undertaking and I was really touched by it. Why do I call it a spiritual undertaking? This is because caring for people is looking for something spiritual. When you help somebody, or when you help a humanitarian organization achieve its goals, you feel something inside that you cannot explain. The baby-sitting activity was a valuable experience because we were allowed to hold a real baby. I felt really nervous but I said to myself that I wanted to make it a part of my life someday. Finally, doing volunteer work kept me humble all the time. The tasks I did at the American Red Cross are no ordinary jobs we do at home or in the office. But they seem ordinary tasks, and you keep yourself humble because you are serving people, people who are deprived of the comfort in life, or people who really need immediate help. Works Cited “First Aid, CPR and AED Certification.” American Red Cross. American Red Cross, 2014. Web. 18 June 2014. Read More