The Greenville and Spartanburg offices of the American Red Cross will conduct the New Responder Boot Camp program on Saturday, May 18 in Greenville at 940 Grove Road and Saturday, June 15, in Spartanburg at 131 East Main Street.
The boot camp will operate between 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
Spring Storms are befalling the Western Carolinas and Hurricane Season looms on the horizon June 1, so the Red Cross is offering a condensed training course for perspective volunteers.
“We reconstructed our volunteer training program to make it more efficient,” said Tony Reid, executive director of Red Cross. “More efficient for us in terms of bringing in new volunteers and more efficient for the volunteer in terms of their time as training used to consist of many hours in a classroom stretched over several months.”
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Now the volunteer experience is expedited into one day according to Reid.
On those dates, new volunteers can take three basic courses: Disaster Services: an Overview, Shelter Fundamentals and Disaster Assessment Basics. Once completed, the newly trained volunteers who have finished the application process, orientation and background check will be ready to provide shelter assistance on behalf of the Red Cross.
Residents who are interested in engaging their community as a responder of the Red Cross can register for the training by sending an e-mail to WCRDVMT@redcross.org, or call Jane Morris in Spartanburg at (864) 583-8000, or Greta Herring in Greenville at (864) 282-8660.
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