The Initiative

First, I personally thank and applaud President and Mrs. Obama for having the courage and foresight to kick off an initiative like this. It was very bold and complex: it required a lot of players to play, it required a great deal of technology, and there were a number of places where there could have been bumps in the road.

With what appeared to be a minimal staff of people, they got hundreds of nonprofits to coalesce and pull together a website in probably record time that would enable people to sign up and serve.

I think it’s going to have a lasting impact because when the President of the United States asks people to serve, there is just something that resonates, almost like JFK saying:

“Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”

This is almost a continuation of that sentiment where you need to figure out ways that can benefit others and as we all know when you do sign up to help another life you are enriching your own at the same time.

United We Serve’s Impact on the American Red Cross

For us at the Red Cross, it taught us a lot of things. I think it forced all of us to think about the way we utilize and deploy volunteers in a whole different light. We have a very formalized way of recruiting volunteers, particularly in the disaster area with rigid training, which is essential to something like disaster services.

But what about people who just want to walk in and help out an hour here and there over the summer?

Our chapters did a phenomenal job of populating the web site, coming up with creative things walk-in volunteers can do and generating excitement around what the Red Cross can do in the community.

United We Serve Results

I have not heard a single negative comment and lots of kudos towards the Red Cross because we provided a lot of volunteer opportunities. As the largest humanitarian organization in the United States, if we can play into this it has the added benefit of other institutions in the sector being able to engage volunteers as well; it’s a leadership position for us that we need to take very seriously and feel a lot of responsibility towards.

A few examples of success stories:

• For the first time ever, the Southern California Blood Region has more blood drive volunteers than available positions.
• The SAF Station in Iwakuni, Japan added 55 new volunteers this summer, bringing their total volunteers to 86.
• Volunteer orientation registrations at the Bay Area chapter have increased more than 30 percent.
• At the Heartland Chapter in Omaha, a group of 12 new youth volunteers made 70 blood donor appointments during three hours of calling.
• More than a dozen teenagers from military families at Camp Foster, Okinawa, received babysitters’ training.
• New volunteers answered the television appeal of the Muskingum Valley Chapter executive in Zanesville, Ohio.

I truly wish we could show examples from every single chapter on the blog, because all of our chapters really stepped up.

I have to confess I was a little nervous about the initiative. It was a lot to do in very little time. For every step we take, we have to put it through the lens of out brand reputation, and I was delighted that our volunteers had a good experience as a result. I hope the administration continues to encourage and generate initiatives like this because it’s good for the morale in our country and gives people an opportunity to connect to others.  It’s certainly good for organizations like us because let’s face it: we can always use volunteers – they’re the heart and soul of the American Red Cross.

Just like today, seven years ago it was a blue and sunny day in Arlington, VA., just minutes from the Pentagon, where I lived at the time. I couldn’t have imagined what would unfold that day.

Today, I live in Houston, and just like that day seven years ago, a storm is brewing just out of sight. Of course, this time it is Hurricane Ike that is bearing down, and once again, I have no idea what to expect over the next 48 hours.

Except for one thing.

I know that in the aftermath of the storm, the Red Cross will be there.

My Personal Story

I have been a volunteer with the Red Cross for seven years today. This is my anniversary.

At the time that American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, I was at work as the Director of Communication for a trade association located just five miles away in Court House plaza in Arlington. We were already watching the tragedy unfold in New York, then suddenly it was unfolding right outside our own window.

We all went home that day and switched on our television sets, and in the process I wondered why I was sitting at home when all of my training as a communication professional could be pressed into use.

I got into my car and drove to the nearby Arlington Red Cross chapter and it turns out that it was a good thing I did. I lived inside the area that was cordoned off, and many long-time volunteers couldn’t even get into the area that day.

I spent the day and night working on in-kind donations, like getting food for volunteers, emergency personnel and family members that were working and waiting for news near the Pentagon.

Since then, I have served on numerous disasters with the Red Cross, including a major flood in San Antonio, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and dozens of house and apartment fires. I have also taught the Public Affairs 101 course to train others to be ready.

People Want to Help

I think it is a natural reaction to do something to help others when faced with a large-scale emergency. For instance, this hurricane season, Andy Carvin, National Public Radio’s senior product manager for online communities, has done his part by putting together a Wiki with resources for those affected by storms this season at www.hurricanewiki.org. My client Network Solutions has provided the hosting and the domain names and dozens of volunteers have organized themselves to help set it up.

While this resource is a wonderful addition to the mix, the Red Cross will be the largest organization to deliver immediate emergency assistance to those people affected in the hurricane zone.

And it costs a lot of money to do it.

Each storm, like the still-forming monster Ike that is headed my way right now, sets the organization back about $50 million. That is to deliver shelter, water, food, and other immediate needs like clothing, prescription medication and eyeglasses. Things that people find themselves lacking when they are forced out of their homes.

And of course, the Red Cross needs trained volunteers to help deliver all of this aid. If you have the time and the proximity, maybe you will discover the great joy of serving the community, or of seeing the relief in someone’s eyes when you help meet their needs.

Those of us standing in the path of this storm, and those that will face them in the future, are counting on you.

Kami Watson Huyse, APR, is a long-time Red Cross volunteer at both the national level and in San Antonio. She is a recent transplant to Houston and is the Principal of My PR Pro and blogs at Communication Overtones about marketing and public relations.

Neither blogging nor working at the Red Cross were glints in my eye yet on this day six years ago, but I’d still like to thank all of the volunteers who stepped in to help on that day, in the days that followed, and who continue to volunteer in their local communities today.

The Red Cross is remembering September 11 in the American Red Cross Museum (which is an all-around great place to visit anytime).

I’d also like to share with you below a few of the blog posts about 9/11 I found in my daily search this morning. They each mention the Red Cross in some way and offer several perspectives of that Tuesday morning.

Thanks to all the bloggers who are telling their stories.

From Read This Sign: 

It was a gorgeous September morning when I dropped my oldest daughter off to her fourth grade class and my youngest to kindergarten. The sun was warm on my face and the temperature was a perfect 75 degrees as I hopped into my car on my way to work.

From Total Drek:

How can we best remember this day? The best way is to remember not only the terrible attacks, but also the beauty that came after it. For the week or so after 9/11, millions of Americans set aside time in their lives for public service. Some drove to New York to help with the rescue efforts any way they could. Some reached out to Arab-Americans in their own communities, trying to promote understanding. Millions of people gave money, or blood, to organizations like the Red Cross.

From J. the Honourary Canadian:

*glances at the clock*

At this time six years ago I was installing patches to McAfee Antivirus on the computers at the Metropolitan New Jersey Chapter of the American Red Cross. A few minutes later I looked up and wondered, “Huh. How come everybody’s going into the board room?”

Turned out it was because that’s where the giant TV was.

It’s wetter today than it was then.

From The Rocking Pony:

The Red Cross was stationed at our church for the next few weeks as the field near Shanksville was gone through inch by inch. The community donated so many supplies that they filled our gym. People just didn’t know what to do, so they gave.

And from our very own Ike Pigott at his blog Occam’s Razr:

On this September 11th, I have a request.

Since for so many of us, the biggest frustration and concern was based on fear and a lack of communication, I ask you to take the time to prepare a communications plan.

Whether it is a terror attack, or a hurricane, or simply a neighborhood evacuation for a gas leak – you need to have contingencies for connecting your family locally, and communicating your status long-distance.

Familiarize yourself with the Red Cross Safe and Well website. Incorporate it into your plan.

Identify a “Hub” – a person of trust far away whom you can reach and can then contact the rest of your friends and loved ones.

Do it today.