Red Cross in Texarkana holds open house event to recruit new volunteers

TEXARKANA, Texas (KSLA) - An open house event was held Thursday, Sept. 29 at the American Red Cross in Texarkana. Leaders there say there’s a shortage of Red Cross volunteers across the nation; they were hoping to fill that need with Thursday’s event.

“We use the generosity of donors and the power of volunteers to do the humanitarian needs here,” said Jeff Cottingham, senior disaster program manager for the American Red Cross North Texas Region.

The North Texas Region consists of 121 counties in Texas, and Miller County in Arkansas. Cottingham says 90% of what happens with the American Red Cross is driven by volunteers. He says local volunteers do more than help during major disasters, like Hurricane Ian.

“Such as when someone loses their home in a house fire, they can call us and we respond, our volunteers respond. We do immediate assist case work and we walk them through the process of recovery. We also help with tornados and floods,” Cottingham said.

Daylee O’Malley and Devin Bryant came by the open house event Thursday to sign up as new volunteers.

“I would just like to help out with all of the natural disasters going on right now, especially with the hurricane right now, how they are sending a lot of people out,” O’Malley said.

“I’m already a volunteer firefighter and this is just another way I can help out,” said Bryant.

Anyone who would like to sign up to be a volunteer with the American Red Cross can do so online here.

“You can do anything you want just about, so it’s a great opportunity for people to give back to their community,” said Cottingham.

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