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The American Red Cross and Youth have been partners for over a century.

The American Red Cross has a proud history of commitment to the youth. In 1884, the first known activity took place in Waterford, Pennsylvania. There were six children that put on a play that raised over $50 for the Red Cross disaster relief fund. Clara Barton, our founder used that money to help a family who lost everything they owned in the flood.

Today, the involvement of young people with the Red Cross is more important than ever. Our goal is to provide young people with meaningful opportunities for education, training, and volunteer/community service so that they remain a part of the Red Cross family throughout their lives. We believe that these individuals have what it takes to make our community a better place to be. There are a variety of opportunities for all ages from elementary school children to college students.

School and Youth Programs

The Red Cross youth programs are offered in most of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools. They teach k-12 how to make safe, healthy choices; save lives with first aid and CPR; even develop job skills for babysitting and life guarding. Last year, we reach over 4,000 students with our programs.

For more information, please contact Chasity Burgess at 704-378-4625 or via e-mail at BurgessChas@usa.redcross.org.

School Disaster Programs - A Safer School
Red Cross also offers its expertise to schools in the areas of disaster preparedness training for students, personnel and counselors using curriculum that meets the teachers learning objectives and emergency response such as assistance in operating school evacuation shelters, feeding and comfort kits for those affected by an emergency, assistance with reunification of families separated by an emergency incident and mental health counseling services for students, families and school personnel.
For more information, Please contact Kailyn Brown at 704-378-4625 or via e-mail at BrownKail@usa.redcross.org.

Other Youth Opportunities

Young people are involved in other areas of the American Red Cross. There are opportunities that are related to school and college and Internships, as well as openings in Leadership Development and Community Services:

• School-Related Activities
  Fund raising, organizing blood drives, providing international assistance, and learning about such things as disaster preparedness and HIV/AIDS prevention and education.
• Leadership Development
  Participating in Red Cross clubs, councils, and local boards as well as in leadership development camps or centers and on national Red Cross advisory and policy-making groups.

For more information, please contact Chasity Burgess at 704-378-4625 or via e-mail at BurgessChas@usa.redcross.org.