If a major disaster such as a flood, tornado or earthquake were to strike the Greater St. Louis area, a corps of trained American Red Cross volunteers would be ready at a moment’s notice to respond. And thanks to a new national Red Cross initiative, the level of response has reached new heights. Ready When the Time Comes, a corporate volunteer program, is designed to tap into the organization and people-power resources of American businesses to train volunteers who can be quickly mobilized during an emergency.
Through Ready When the Time Comes, corporations partner with the Red Cross, allowing their employees to receive free training in disaster relief functions. In return, corporate partners commit to making their trained employees available for disaster service at least one day each year. When a large-scale disaster occurs, the Red Cross calls upon the Ready When the Time Comes partner and, with a single phone call, can deploy as many volunteers as needed.
May 5, 2007 Press Conference
This spring, the St. Louis Area Chapter became the ninth chapter in the
country to implement Ready When the Time Comes. Seven other markets in major metro areas across the country are soon to follow. To date, the St. Louis Area Chapter has trained 136 employees from local partners Grainger, Anheuser-Busch, Citi, Fleishman-Hillard, Lohr Distributing Company and State Farm. The chapter continues to recruit corporations and hopes to train an additional 250 volunteers by December 2008.
On Saturday, May 5, led by Grainger, the national founding sponsor of Ready When the Time Comes, and Anheuser-Busch, the local lead sponsor, local corporations participated in a full-scale shelter drill at St. Raphael the Archangel School in South St. Louis, one of 600 local facilities designated as a potential Red Cross shelter during times of disaster.
The shelter drill provided an overview of Red Cross emergency services available to victims of disaster, and featured trained employees from Grainger, Anheuser-Busch and other local partners working alongside veteran Red Cross volunteers. More than 100 people participated in the simulation, which focused on registration procedures, cot set-up and distribution of bedding, food preparation and delivery, and administration of physical/mental health services.
Additional Resources
View the press conference photo gallery
Read speeches from the press conference presenters
View the press conference program
See local television highlights (part 1)
See local television highlights (part 2)
Read local print highlights
Read the latest Ready When the Time Comes news
Corporate Partners
Grainger - National Lead Sponsor
Anheuser-Busch - Local Lead Sponsor
Citigroup
Fleishman-Hillard
Lohr Distributing Company
State Farm
Chapter Resources
One page summary
Introduction Letter