Ready, Willing, Able and Glad to Serve, poster, 1964

During our celebration of the 1917 founding of the Junior Red Cross, we have a unique opportunity to look back and reflect why youth volunteerism has been so successful over the past ninety years. Of course, we have an incredible mission, in America and abroad. There are also a number of opportunities in the Red Cross for involvement, leadership and personal development. While it is true that these help to attract thousands of new youth and young adult volunteers each year to our organization, I have stayed involved with the American Red Cross for yet another reason: the amazing people I have met.

Red Cross staff and volunteers care genuinely for each other. During my freshman year of high school, I remember calling up the local chapter to ask about volunteer opportunities. Diana Grace, the Director of Volunteers, was quick to call me back. She wanted to find the perfect opportunity for me, whether it meant solving a chapter-related math problem on the spot (back then I was a math guy) or later directing me to the AFES coordinator to help fundraise for foreign schoolchildren. Diana was enthusiastic and interested in her volunteers, and she set a great tone for the local chapter.

Advisors oversee the volunteer experience to ensure that each project has an impact on the community and is a meaningful opportunity for its participants. Our county youth coordinator, Vera Alexander, was my biggest role model in high school. She did not just support our activities. She also lead by example. A triple major from Duke, she had since moved to Los Angeles to work as a screenwriter. A rarity in Hollywood I'm sure, she chose to write under a pseudonym, and never divulged the names of the screenplays she had optioned to anyone but her mother. Vera was intelligent, confident, but above all she was humble. She never talked about herself, and she deflected positive praise when others talked about her.

The local high school volunteers, as well as college volunteers I would meet in the future, came from disparate backgrounds but were invariably attracted to the Red Cross as a noble outlet for their energy and skills. I am not sure how else I could have met them. I have made friends from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds, from new cities and states -- and this summer, even new countries—and with different career interests. It has been tough to have a dull conversation!

In my continuing involvement with the Red Cross, I've been amazed at the general quality of people that support the Red Cross lines of business. They're selfless with their time and extremely supportive of youth involvement, regardless of their position in the organization. And this says nothing of the people that the Red Cross touches. The organization brings out the best in people during times of disaster, and even as a college student in Los Angeles, I was amazed by donors and volunteers during the response to Katrina.

A final note. We have a number of structures within the Red Cross to help our youth volunteers and their support staff, and the 90th anniversary is a great opportunity to market them. We want to make sure our amazing volunteers have the right tools to succeed. At the National Youth Council, we run the Youth Neighborhood, which is an online resource for sharing photos, best practices and other documents, and contact information, in addition to discussing and receiving updated information from national headquarters. Let us know if you would like access. We have just launched the Red Cross youth blog, located at http://redcrossyouth.wordpress.com, as an opportunity to share stories, tips and ideas with both current and future Red Cross volunteers. Your youth are encouraged to participate in the blog and share their stories. We also periodically seek out partnerships with external organizations to provide support for our goals.

The Red Cross is a wonderful opportunity to meet new people and develop your own skills, all while impacting the community. I'll continue to stay involved long after my term with the National Youth Council is over. I have more Red Crossers to meet!