Sometimes I wonder if anyone at the Red Cross thinks AmeriCorps members actually work! We have pretty irregular hours from going out and giving community presentations, setting up shelter liaison visits, taking any and all training courses, to volunteering commitments not even related to the Red Cross. And when we waltz in at noon and post “The Adventures of Randy and Andy” blog, it is hard to say whether we are helping or hurting our reputation for getting things done;) But what people don’t see are the two presentations we did before coming into work, the Disaster Action Team shift we may do after work, and the countless activities we do regularly to gain as many job-related skills as we can. AmeriCorps really is hard work!

 

But sometimes, on days like last Monday, I realized that really anyone who doesn’t think that AmeriCorps members actually work is probably just jealous of our awesome job.

 

This past Monday the whole St. Louis AmeriCorps gang; Katie Beall, Erica Suhling, Allyson Pope, Anne Gumpert and I met up with our fellow National Preparedness and Response Member, Nicole Brants, from Springfield, IL. Katie, the logistics nerd, worked hard to create an itinerary for the day that would highlight both our Chapter’s Red Cross and St. Louis itself. We began with a tour of the office and the Disaster Action Team room downstairs. Being good Red Cross employees, we made sure to point out exits and discuss emergency meeting places only partially in jest. All six of us loaded up in the van and moved locations to the Red Cross warehouse where we were welcomed by the fabulous warehouse team. We got the grand tour of the warehouse, one of only five across the nation. I think we all were pretty amazed at the capacity of our warehouse and the hard work the staff puts in to keep it that way (not to mention their dazzling display of forklift usage).

 

After leaving the warehouse, per Katie’s itinerary, we enjoyed lunch on Laclede’s landing and showed off the city a little. Although the majority of the group isn’t native to St. Louis, we didn’t let that deter us from expressing our St. Louis pride by pointing out potential rally squirrels, the Lewis and Clark statue, and the Arch. We concluded our day by volunteering with the Foster and Adoption Coalition at their “[RE]FRESH” resale store. I had assumed that we would be filing paperwork, organizing, or at least doing something that was too time-consuming and monotonous for their regular employees to do. After all, we were a group of six volunteers looking for a single afternoon of work! But boy, was I wrong. Upon arrival we went downstairs and retrieved this awesome peachy-shag fabric and five wooden cornices. Yes, cornices. Armed with scissors, staple guns, and lots of hands we set out to turn a regular conference room into a space for foster children to celebrate birthdays, holidays, and other events in style with fabric-covered cornices! After about two hours of measuring, pulling, and stapling, we felt like little Martha Stewarts. Our beautiful creations really did pull the room together to achieve the exact outcome for which [RE]FRESH was looking. 

 

By finishing our Monday with an activity that tested our skill, teamwork, and trust (we were using staple guns), we had seamlessly made new friends, new skills, and new cornices. And who doesn’t call that work?

 

Teresa