The American Red Cross Gold Country Region was fortunate last year to have met and provided training to Niveta Ramakrishnan, a third-year medical student and volunteer with the Irish Red Cross.
We were so impressed with her dedication to the Red Cross and her tenacity in learning all she could about what we do in the United States.
Read Niveta’s blog post about her time in Sacramento!
Hey guys, just me Sophie again! I am just going to give you all a quick overview of the events we have done this semester and how we plan to finish up.
We have had quite a busy semester so far. Back in October we had our third annual haunted house; we have this event to provide a safe environment for kids of all ages to have a safe environment to go ‘trick-or-treating’ to each booth where they also get to play games. There is also a maze that is frightfully fun. Another event (well series of events, I guess) we have done is volunteer for Safe Rides at our school. Our student government provides this service for students to ensure that they receive a safe ride home. The service runs Wednesday through Saturday and from 9pm-2am. Clubs that volunteer five times a semester receive funding for their club. It is actually quite fun volunteering for this event. There is one driver and one navigator (we call them navis for short); normally we switch around being partners every night so members can get closer to each other and not just hang out with their one friend every time they volunteer together. Also, earlier in the semester we volunteered for the Alzheimer’s walk. At the walk we were placed towards the finish line to encourage walkers to finish strong. We have also volunteered for the Causeway Classic Blood Drive at our school. The blood drive is a competition that Sac State and UC Davis has every year to encourage more student participation. Unfortunately, I am unsure of who won this year.
Some upcoming events we have include our last Safe Rides of the semester on November 20. We will definitely be volunteering again next semester! Also, we will be volunteering for the Home Fire Preparedness event on December 4th and 5th. The 4th we will be precanvasing with some local high school Red Cross clubs for the actual event on Saturday the 5th. What we will be doing is installing free smoke alarms in underprivileged areas of Sacramento for free. Our goal is to install 1000 smoke alarms that day!
Hello all! My name is Sophie Amirrezvani and I am the president of the American Red Cross Student Association (ARCSA) at Sacramento State.
We are dedicated to fostering a volunteering community within our club. We do a lot of events both on and off campus. I am a second year at Sac State and I remember coming into college knowing that I wanted to be involved on my campus but had no idea what I wanted to do. At the beginning of my first semester I checked out a few different clubs and the only one that really stood out to me was the ARCSA. I really loved Thursdays because not only was it one day closer to the weekend, but I got to go to see my Red Cross friends.
Last year, the club was short on officers so the officers recruited a historian and a secretary. I ended up being secretary and look where that got me. By being an officer I have learned so much more about the Red Cross and all the wonderful services we have to offer. This year I am also a board member, representing Sac State. It is truly inspiring to meet so many people that are so dedicated to helping their community. I have been volunteering for the Red Cross for just over a year now and have loved every minute of it. If you have not already done so I highly encourage becoming a volunteer! It is a wonderful experience and you get to meet so many amazing people
Whenever my mom asks me what I am up too other than school, my natural response is that I’m either volunteering for a Red Cross event or I plan on hanging out with my Red Cross friends. I am so happy to have joined such a wonderful and diverse club. Most people assume that our club consists solely of science major, although for myself that is true, I am a biology major. However, we have members that are majoring in a wide variety of subjects, ranging from criminal justice to computer science to gerontology. Fun fact: there is only one gerontology major in our club and she is awesome!!
Gold Country News and Notes 