Making an impact with the American Red Cross doesn’t take years and years of time and dedication. Youth Volunteer Vidhatri Iyer became a Red Cross volunteer in May 2021 as a Disaster Preparedness Presenter.
Iyer’s decision to volunteer with the Red Cross was fueled by the desire to help the youth in her community. She saw a need for greater education on preparing to face a disaster and took action to fill it.
Since becoming a volunteer, Iyer has gone on to expand her roles, and now actively volunteers as a Regional Youth Ambassador, DCS Community Preparedness and Youth Presenter, and Volunteer Recruitment Team Member.
Though Vidhatri has diversified her areas of volunteering past only working with youth, working with children has remained one of her favorite parts of being a Red Crosser. She recounts presenting the Prepare with Pedro program to children experiencing homelessness as one of the best aspects of volunteering. Prepare with Pedro helps educate children on preparedness and taking action when faced with a home fire or another local disaster. Another one of Vidhatri’s best-loved volunteer projects is working on volunteer recruitment for the Disaster Action Team (DAT).
Presenting with the Red Cross has given Vidhatri the opportunity to make an impact on the lives of many children and help them truly understand the severity of disasters. However, this impact is not only limited to those Vidhatri has worked with; volunteering has helped her improve her own skills as well. Vidhatri currently serves as the Indiana Field Ambassador, and through this experience, she has been able to broaden and ameliorate her communication, networking, and leadership skills.
For all of her hard work, she will be receiving the Teen’s Gold Presidential Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) for completing over 100 hours of volunteer service.
If you would like to join the Red Cross volunteer team, or want to learn more about available volunteer positions, visit redcross.org/volunteer.