by Stephanie Candelaria
Daily Lobo
With fewer than 25 employees, the Mid-Rio Grande Chapter of the American Red Cross depends on a core of trained volunteers to fulfill its mission in the local community.
Now, a small group of UNM students will do its part to help the international humanitarian organization.
The Red Cross Club of UNM has been successfully chartered and is prepared to begin aiding the community, said Kendall Sykes, president and founder of the club.
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Sykes added that as the first and only organization at a New Mexico university, club members will be involved in full range of Red Cross activities, including disaster services, community preparedness education, health and safety activities, international services and community service projects.
"I'm really excited to get this started," Sykes said. "It seems as if volunteering, for college students, has gone out of style. Perhaps with more updated volunteering opportunities, students will be more likely to participate."
Sykes, a UNM history major, said she has long been interested in volunteering for the Red Cross, and that while surfing the Web for information, she came across a Web site for similar college clubs and got hooked on the idea.
"I immediately sent out an e-mail to get more information," she said. "After telling a few friends about my findings, they were all eager to help."
Sykes said that during the winter of 1999, the Mid-Rio Grande Chapter fed more than 250 stranded travelers and rescue personnel when an unpredicted snowstorm shut down I-40 east of Albuquerque. In May of 2000, the chapter responded with hundreds of volunteers when raging wildfires swept across New Mexico helping 1,536 families to eventually rebuild their lives.
According to its Web site, the American Red Cross pledges to carry on a system of national and international relief in time of peace and apply the same in helping to ease suffering caused by pestilence, famine, fire, floods and other large-scale natural and man-made calamities.
Since its conception in 1905, hundreds of chapters of the organization have sprung up across the country, including 41 college clubs.
Diana Carrillo, coordinator for youth services at the Mid-Rio Grande Chapter, said that when she received a letter of intent from Sykes, she was ecstatic.
"I was very excited," Carrillo said. "Having a club on campus will be a great partnership between UNM and the American Red Cross. The youth are our future and now they can carry the vision of the American Red Cross."
To become a member of UNM's Red Cross Club, individuals can attend an orientation at the Mid-Rio Grande Chapter at a time to be announced later. Also, they must train to be CPR and disaster certified. Certification can be obtained through training courses provided by the Mid-Rio Grande Chapter.
Carrillo said the education gained through the Red Cross is invaluable.
"So many people think that the Red Cross is just a disaster relief service or for health and safety education, but it is so much more," she said. "By becoming part of the UNM chapter, students will not only have the opportunity to learn more about the American Red Cross, but they can use what they learn and apply it to their area of study."
