GREENSBORO, N.C. — The American Red Cross is looking for thousands of disaster volunteers.
The Red Cross is hoping to fill those positions with an upcoming virtual fair.
Margaret Erga has volunteered in the Triad for 20 years. She said the organization is looking for shelter volunteers.
"We need folks that can go in and do you like the reception area registration, working in the dormitory with clients that are in the dorms. Another big push for folks that we need are health services volunteers, folks that are licensed, medical professionals," Erga said.
For the Disaster Health Services volunteers, the Red Cross said their professional license (RN, LPN, LVN, RPh, PharmD, MD, DO, and PA) has to be current and unencumbered.
All volunteers will be trained accordingly. Erga said COVID-19 has thrown a wrench in how the organization approaches situations. It's caused other volunteers to step back from their role or only able to provide support virtually.
Regardless, Erga said it's so impactful to make a difference.
"Unfortunately in the COVID environment, I can't give them a hug. But those have been some of the most memorable things for me is to give someone a little breathing space that may have had the worst day of their life and give them that hope and help them start that process of recovery," Erga said.
You can learn more about what it means to be a volunteer at the Disaster Response Virtual Volunteer Fair on Sept. 1 from 12 to 1 pm. You are required to RSVP by August 28th.
To sign up, visit: tinyurl.com/VirtualVolunteerFairRSVP. Interested volunteers can apply online at redcross.org/volunteertoday.