The American Red Cross in Greater New York's (ARC/GNY) Ready When the Time Comes (RWTC) program provides disaster-relief training to volunteer teams from local corporate and business groups, as well as community groups. All participants receive free basic disaster relief and personal preparedness training. RWTC volunteers serve as a reserve task force that will be called upon when a large-scale New York Chapter emergency relief operation requires increased staffing.
How Does RWTC Work?
Corporate groups partner with the American Red Cross in Greater New York to train their designated members as disaster relief volunteers. Partners commit to making these group members available for major local disasters, such as large-scale flooding and power outages. When a major local disaster occurs, ARC/GNY calls RWTC partners, who then deploy their volunteers to Red Cross service sites.
Services RWTC Volunteers Provide
All Ready When the Time Comes volunteers attend a 3-hour introductory course, and are required to take additional training needed to perform one of the following disaster relief activities:
- Mass Care and Feeding
- Sheltering
- Client Casework
- Disaster Assessment
- Logistics
What is required of RWTC Partners?
- Recruit a team of volunteers (minimum of 20; no maximum).
- Designate a team leader that the Greater New York Chapter can contact when RWTC volunteer deployment is necessary.
- Assist in identifying training sites for their RWTC team.
- Encourage and recognize RWTC team members within the company.
For more information, please contact David Gibbs at 212-875-2616 or gibbsd@nyredcross.org.
RWTC Corporate Partners
