HAPPY FRIDAY!

If you’re one of the 9.5% of Americans that is unemployed, volunteering for the American Red Cross is a great way to avoid employment gaps and keep you active.

Layoffs are slowing, but jobs are scarce, leaving nearly 7 million Americans collecting unemployment checks and retailers looking for customers. The bad news is joblessness is at a 25-year high, with almost 1 out of every 10 Americans out of work. The good news is that the number of newly laid-off workers requesting unemployment insurance fell by 52,000, the Labor Department reported yesterday.

If this alarming figure includes you, there’s an opportunity to make the most of the situation by volunteering or interning at your Chicago Red Cross chapter. While you wait for the economy to rebound, keep your skills sharp and, network and make contacts while giving back to your community. At last, the up side of the worst unemployment to batter the country since the early 1980s.

Career counselors routinely advise people who've lost their jobs to volunteer for charitable organizations, both to broaden their resumes and to fill their unemployed hours. Although the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics figures, released last September, show only a slight uptick in the number of Americans doing volunteer work, experts think the numbers this year will tell a different story.

According articles in The Examiner, The Baltimore Sun and Crain’s Cleveland Business, many recently-laid-off volunteers are looking to stay involved and broaden their own skill set to assist in their transition to another job. The volunteers are not looking to sit on the nonprofit's board, but they instead hope to join committees in which they can use their skills to help lead the organization.

I’ve personally loved my experience as a Red Cross Auxiliary Board member, with tremendous opportunities to network, take on leadership roles across a variety of projects and be a part of one of the most respected organizations in the world! For information on how you can volunteer: Complete the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago application. You may also request a hard-copy application form by contacting chicagoVR@usa.redcross.org or (312) 729-6222. To join the Auxiliary Society to participate in one of our many event and fundraising committees, click here and complete your membership by paying here.

From Blue to Red

Wow! This is my very first time ever blogging and I am very excited about it. As much as I feel like I should have some really interesting story to start off with, I don't. I joined the ARC because I was honestly just bored to pieces- seeing that the current state of the country had left me jobless.

Three months ago, I was really really depressed, feeling useless and very unproductive, so I literally just sat in front of my computer, typed in “Red Cross” (a.k.a http://chicagoredcross.org/) and viola I was on the homepage where I clicked on “Volunteer” and the rest is history. It was really that easy. Funny thing, when I tell people I volunteer for the Red Cross they almost always ask me how I knew about the organization. This is usually surprising to me because I thought everyone knew about Red Cross.

Anyway, I (and apparently thousands of other people that support us) truly believe that the Red Cross does amazing things in our community daily, but most importantly it has done wonders to my life. I am enjoying the ride so far and learning a lot, like blogging, working on campaigns, research and trying to keep you interested in what I am saying right now:)

I tend to lean more towards low maintenance tasks so physical labor is not quite my thing. However, whatever your interests and strengths are, there is a place for you here. We all have our own motivations and stories. This is mine. What will be yours?

BECOME A RED CROSS VOLUNTEER TODAY!


Oh, and if you are already a volunteer, send in your story and “Tell us how a Red Cross experience changed your life or someone else's life” in 75 words or less and you could win a FREE trip for two-nights to Washington DC (exciting, huh?). Enter at redcross.org


Uche Amu:
Uche is a graduate from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) with a BA in Psychology. Her favorite color is yellow and her favorite quote is, “You can try to fit in but you were born to stand out”. She loves to change the status quo by being herself- unique :-)

Job Searching?

Have you lost your job? I’ve been there and it can be a very scary time, especially around the holidays. The news is reporting that unemployment is up.
More people are going to be looking for jobs and finding ways to keep themselves busy while they search for another one.
We’ve got two ideas for you; volunteer and/or build new skills.
Volunteering will help you keep your skills fresh while you are searching for the perfect opportunity. Yes, actually, now that you asked we DO have opportunities here if people are interested in helping the Red Cross while keeping those skills up to date. A nice byproduct of volunteering is it also makes you feel really good.
Find out how to volunteer here.
Build your skills in your current field or another one that may be more stable. We offer training in CPR/First aid and other skills that may aid you in finding a job as these skills are required for many professions and may make your more marketable in certain fields. Interested? Check out this page for our course listings.