"Ready When the Time Comes" Volunteer Program To Be Introduced Nationwide
CHICAGO, October 28, 2002. - From 9-to-5 during the week, they are customer service representatives, marketing executives, data entry clerks, managers, executive assistants, and sales representatives at industrial supply giant Grainger. But when disasters strike the Chicago area, they become Red Cross disaster responders - ready when the time comes to lend a hand when it is most critically needed.
These professionals are part of the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago's Ready When the Time Comes (RWTC) corporate volunteer program, designed to increase the local Red Cross's capacity to respond instantaneously to disasters while giving area corporations a way to allow their employees to get actively involved in providing disaster relief services to the community.
Through Ready When the Time Comes, corporations such as Grainger partner with the Red Cross, allowing their employees to receive free training in disaster relief functions. In return, corporate partners commit to making their trained employees available for disaster service at least one day each year. When a large-scale disaster occurs, the Red Cross calls upon the RWTC partner and, with a single phone call, can deploy as many volunteers as needed. Throughout Chicago, RWTC volunteers have put their training to work responding to flooding, massive fires, heat emergencies - and even the terrorist attacks of September 11.
"Whenever disasters strike, we are flooded with calls from individuals and corporations who tell us that they simply want to 'do something' to help," says Martha Patterson, coordinator for the Chicago Chapter's Ready When the Time Comes program. "Ready When the Time Comes partners can immediately translate that desire into action. The companies we have partnered with are helping to make sure that the Chicago area is unquestionably ready and prepared should disaster strike."
Lake Forest, Ill.-based Grainger was one of the first corporations to join as a RWTC partner and is one of the program's most active - and vocal - supporters. "Our participation in the Ready When the Time Comes program has been extremely positive," said Jim Ryan, executive vice president marketing, sales and service at Grainger. "We see tremendous value in this program and our employees are grateful for the opportunity to be able to actively contribute to recovery efforts. It's a win-win for everyone involved."
After working together for two years to set up their RWTC model, the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago and Grainger are rolling out a nationwide education effort to show other Red Cross Chapters and corporations just how quickly and easily such partnerships can be developed to help safeguard other communities. And they're doing it all with the help of a new CD-ROM and interactive web site.
The CD-ROM and web site offer more than 1,000 American Red Cross Chapters proven strategies for developing partnerships of their own, along with a "tool-kit" of materials to help get them started. Grainger is the sole sponsor of the CD-ROM and web site.
Since its inception, the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago has signed 15 corporate partners and recruited more than 1,000 volunteers for Ready When the Time Comes. Its largest recruitment followed the events of September 11 as more businesses sought value in offering time and resources to help victims of disaster. Ready When the Time Comes volunteers are trained in shelter operations, providing mass feeding, operating a community response (public inquiry and phone bank) center, and damage assessment. These volunteers can also be trained in First Aid, CPR or AED use.
"We're proud to join the Red Cross of Greater Chicago in helping educate other Red Cross chapters and companies nationwide about this program," said Ryan. "This program has proved to be a very meaningful way for us to give back to the communities in which we operate."
American Red Cross of Greater Chicago corporate partners report that participation in Ready When the Time Comes raises employee morale and supports teamwork. "After the September 11 attacks, our employees expressed an overwhelming desire to 'do more.'" said Ryan. "Our participation in the Ready When the Time Comes program gave both our employees and the company that opportunity."
The Ready When the Time Comes instructional CD may be obtained by contacting the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago. The web site can be accessed at
www.chicagoredcross.org/rwtc. Copies for the media can also be obtained by contacting Michelle Godfrey at (312) 729-6204.
Governed by volunteers and supported by community donations, the American Red Cross is a nationwide network of local community supporters -- volunteers, blood donors, and financial donors -- organized into nearly 1,000 chapters, Blood Services regions and field units dedicated to saving lives and helping people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. Led by 1.2 million volunteers and 36,000 employees, the Red Cross annually mobilizes relief to families affected by more than 67,000 disasters, trains nearly 12 million people in lifesaving skills and exchanges more than a million emergency messages for U.S. military service personnel and their families. The Red Cross is the largest supplier of blood and blood products to more than 3,000 hospitals across the nation and also assists victims of international disasters and conflicts throughout the world.