The Red Cross Organization is known for its many forms of aid on a global level. From CPR education here in the United States to disaster relief across the globe, most can agree that the organization is among the most successful in its mission. The Red Cross Club is a small section of the organization, in which high school students gain the opportunity to help the organization achieve those goals. Athens Drive High School has just reinstated its chapter, after being on a hiatus for several years.
The club held its first interest meeting on February 21st, where they discussed the future of the club as they decided to start up during the spring semester.
“We are trying to get as many students involved in the community and giving back with this global organization as possible,” said Rida Siraj, club founder.
The Athens Drive chapter hasn’t been well established for a few years, as it was forced to shut down at the end of the 2021-2022 school year because it failed to reach enough interested club members.
“Our goal is to increase participation and advertise the club more and try to get as many people involved as possible in civic engagement, volunteering, and community service.” said Siraj.
Members of the Athens Drive chapter of the club will also be members of the Red Cross organization as a whole, completing specific requirements of the club.
“The requirement for the club is just two service hours a month in red cross related activities, one of which comes from attending the meetings alone,” said Siraj.
The club also provides considerable benefits to teens interested in joining, as it is both a great way to get service hours for other clubs and a great addition to any college application.
The journey to recreating the Red Cross club hasn’t been easy for Siraj. Having been a member in previous years, she saw the need for the chapter to be reintroduced and has been working diligently through many obstacles to achieve that.
“We have to put a pause on the club [after the interest meeting] until we get completely processed to become an official regional branch,” said Siraj. “Once we become official they are probably going to give me a whole list of rules, requirements, and projects I need to do.”
Taylor Tippins, Athens Drive social studies teacher and new advisor of the club is confident that the club will be successful in the long run.
“When Rida emailed me back in October, I wanted to see where we were going to go with it, how it’s going to grow, and who is going to join. I know that we are going to get really involved in the community and give back to the school,” said Tippins.
As Siraj works with both the Red Cross organization and school administrators to see through her plans, she’s excited and looks forward to the club’s growth.
“What I can say for sure is we’re going to work on getting students involved, which was not done by the previous club. We’re going to get more projects running, making it easier for engagement and helping us to be more successful all around,” said Siraj.
Those interested in joining the club should consider following the club on Instagram with the username @adhsrcc for more updates in the future.
