American Red Cross Tennessee Region is Recruiting New Volunteers and Offering Fast Track Shelter Training in Preparation for Hurricane Ian

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 26, 2022 - The American Red Cross relies on volunteers to the help prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies. Volunteers make up over 90 percent of the Disaster workforce and make it possible to respond to nearly 70,000 disasters every year, most of them home and apartment fires. Disaster volunteers also provide preparedness services and information before disaster strikes and assist those who have experienced a disaster with their recovery. 

Currently, many Tennessee Region volunteers are deployed to respond to Hurricane Ian, as well as responses in Puerto Rico, Alaska and western wildfires in California. The need is great in the state of Tennessee for disaster responders, both at home, and nationally. 

“With national disaster responses continuing in the west and the looming possibility of a major impact from Hurricane Ian in the Atlantic, we need more volunteers to assist in Sheltering,” said Christopher Robins, regional disaster services officer for the Tennessee Region. “We will offer shelter training for anyone who would be interested in joining our volunteer workforce to help respond to these disasters. Our goal here is to train qualified volunteers to be able to potentially deploy and assist when needed.” 

Each shelter training will take four hours to complete and will cover all the required courses needed to become a shelter worker. For those interested in learning more about volunteer opportunities, anyone is welcome to attend the first hour to learn more about Red Cross available opportunities and if interested stay for the remainder of the training. 

Nashville Area Chapter - 2201 Charlotte Ave, Nashville, TN 37203

Wednesday, Sept. 28: 9:00 a.m. CST
Saturday, Oct. 1: 2:00 p.m. CST 

Northeast Tennessee Chapter – 660 Eastern Star Rd., Kingsport, TN 37663

Thursday, Sept. 29: 10:00 a.m. EST
Thursday, Sept. 29: 5:30 p.m. EST

 Tennessee River Chapter – 1760 Madison St., Clarksville, TN 37403

Wednesday, Sept. 28: 5:00 p.m. CST 

Heart of Tennessee Chapter – 501 Memorial Blvd., Murfreesboro, TN 37129

Thursday, Sept. 29: 9:00 a.m. CST
Thursday, Sept. 29: 2:00 p.m. CST
Saturday, Oct. 1: 9:00 a.m. CST

Southeast Tennessee Chapter – 4115 S. Access Rd., Chattanooga, TN 37406

Wednesday, Sept. 28: 12:30 p.m. EST
Saturday, Oct. 1: 10:00 a.m. EST

East Tennessee Chapter – 6921 Middlebrook Pike, Knoxville, TN 37909

Wednesday, Sept. 28: 3:00 p.m. EST
Thursday, Sept. 29: 5:00 p.m. EST

Mid-West Tennessee Chapter – Jackson State Community College, 2046 N. Parkway, Jackson, TN

Thursday, Sept. 29: 5:00 p.m. CST 

Mid-West Tennessee Chapter – Oakland Community Center, 4435 State Hwy. 69S, Paris, TN

Thursday, Sept. 29, 3:00 p.m. CST 

Mid-South Chapter – 1399 Madison Ave. Memphis, TN 38104

Thursday, Sept. 29: 5:30 p.m.-7 p.m. CST **This Memphis meeting will share volunteer opportunities and deployment basics. 
Saturday, Oct. 1: 9:00 a.m. CST (shelter training)

For more information on these trainings, please visit the AmericanRed Cross Tennessee Region Facebook page.

 

Find out how you can serve in your community by searching for current volunteer opportunities. The American Red Cross provides FREE disaster training for all volunteers. Trainings are both online and in-person depending on the course. To find out more about these training opportunities please contact your local Red Cross office.

About the American Red Cross:

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members, and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org/Tennessee  or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCrossTN. The American Red Cross Tennessee Region serves all 95 counties in Tennessee, Crittenden County in Arkansas and Desoto and Tunica counties in Mississippi. The Tennessee Region – part of a nationwide network of locally supported chapters - is comprised of the following eight Red Cross chapters: East Tennessee, Heart of Tennessee, Mid-South, Mid-West Tennessee, Nashville Area, Southeast Tennessee, Northeast Tennessee and Tennessee River.