MARIPOSA – The American Red Cross of the Central Valley is hosting another pre-fire season Shelter Boot Camp training on Wednesday, May 1, through Friday, May 3, at New Life Christian Fellowship Church, 5089 Cole Road in Bootjack, Mariposa County.
Anyone interested in training as a Red Cross disaster volunteer is encouraged to attend.
This multi-evening offering of courses is designed to build capacity for the upcoming wildfire season. Volunteers who complete all three evenings of training will be fully qualified to respond as a Red Cross shelter worker. Volunteers will be required to complete a background check to graduate.
Organizers are looking for people from all walks of life – if you can comfort people in their time of need, then you can work in a shelter. There are also some new volunteer opportunities including Spiritual Care, Disaster Mental Health Services and Distributions of Emergency supply teams.
“Our local Red Cross team is more than 90 percent led by volunteers,” says Red Cross Disaster Program Manager Katrina Poitras.
“We rely on their compassion and generosity to serve the community in times of disaster. Last year during the Ferguson Fire, we were able to open and close several evacuation centers and shelters, and operate them locally for 28 days straight without having to bring in other volunteers outside our territory or region.”
Poitras says they were able to do this because of the 2018 Boot Camp they held just before fire season last year.
“That training allowed us to find and train all the wonderful volunteers we needed to have a successful shelter season. So we are reaching out to the community again this year and asking anyone who is interested or would like a refresher from last year in responding to any disaster here in the mountain area.”
Poitras says they are looking to recruit anyone with a medical license to work in their shelters as well.
“If you are an RN, LVN or EMT with an active license and would like to become a Red Cross volunteer, we will have an additional training session added to the boot camp.”
New Volunteers or returning Seasonal Volunteers – https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ARCBOOTCAMP
- Wednesday, May 1, 6 p.m. – Shelter Connected the Dots Sessions 3 Guest Speakers- Red Cross Public Affairs and CCADT Animal Sheltering
- Thursday, May 2, 6 p.m. – Shelter Connect the Dots Sessions 4 – Shelter Operations
- Friday, May 3, 6 p.m. – Shelter Connect the Dots Last Session 5 – Shelter Operations
Health Service Providers – https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ARCCONNECT
- Wednesday, May 1, 6 p.m. – Shelter Connected the Dots Sessions 3 Guest Speakers- Red Cross Public Affairs and CCADT Animal Sheltering
- *** Special Additional Class*** Thursday May 2, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Health Service providers operating in a shelter
- Thursday, May 2, 6 p.m. – Shelter Connect the Dots Sessions 4 – Shelter Operations
- Friday, May 3, 6 p.m. – Shelter Connect the Dots Last Session 5 – Shelter Operations
Help the Red Cross help our community be ready when they get the call. Register TODAY! Join the Madera, Mariposa and Merced Disaster Response Team, and we will see you at Boot Camp!
For further volunteer opportunities please visit www.redcross.org.
