World Red Cross Day

Friday 8 May 2009 was World Red Cross Day, and the birthday of Red Cross’s founder Henry Dunant. Dunant, a Swiss banker, witnessed the horrifying aftermath of the Battle of Solferino in June 1859 and subsequently formed the Red Cross in order to alleviate the suffering of the dead, dieing and injured. Dunant wrote the book “A Memory of Solferino” which describes in stark detail the events that lead to the creation of the Red Cross and which can be downloaded from the following Red Cross link:

 

A Memory of Solferino 

 

I attended the World Red Cross Day presentation at Red Cross House in Sydney last Friday and listened to the great work Red Cross and its volunteers were doing within Australia, from fire to floods and everything in between.

 

We had great speeches by Lewis Kaplan, Red Cross Executive Director NSW, John Fries, Red Cross Chairman NSW, and Michael Raper, Red Cross Director of Services and International Operations whom many people would have seen on TV following the Victorian Bushfires a few months ago outlining the effort Red Cross was doing for the appeals.

 

 

There were also 60 service and Distinguished Service awards presented to volunteers who have contributed to Red Cross over the decades. One of the truly great aspects about Red Cross is the dedication which volunteers show not only over months, but years and decades.

 

Many of the volunteers have been at it even before hippies, peace, love and mung beans were all the rage and well before the age of computers, the Internet and IPhones.

 

Whilst this is great, Red Cross needs to find this dedication within the current generation of X’s and Y’s in order to continue its great work.

 

I think this is the challenge of many volunteer organisations who need to find a way to recruit and retain many from the “I want it now” generation.

 

World Red Cross Day puts into perspective the great work Red Cross does not only in Australia but around the world.

 

Many Red Cross projects are not widely known in the community as they are more concerned about getting the job done not just harping on about it.

 

Some of these projects include the Good Start Breakfast Club, Family support, blood donations, Save-A-Mate, personal support, and asylum assistance etc.

 

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