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Meet the Red Cross Youth Content Committee
Friday, August 29, 2003 — Many of the stories and interactive features you find on the Redcross.org youth section are written and created by the American Red Cross Youth Content Committee. The committee members, chosen by their web design and writing skills, are all active volunteers in their local American Red Cross chapters and were selected from a pool of applicants to assist in the creation and maintenance of web content. They come from across the country to communicate over email and through bimonthly conference calls to plan the site's content. Currently they have been tasked with redesigning the content for high school and college-aged audiences, so keep an eye out for more innovative ideas from their team.
Read below as this year's committee introduces themselves...
Joyce Lee: Content Committee Chair
I have been a youth volunteer ever since becoming involved with the Red Cross at the tender age of 13. I began my Red Cross escapades at the Orange County Chapter as a delegate to the chapter's first-ever Jr. Leadership Development Center (LDC), a leadership camp for middle school students.
From there, I moved onward and occasionally upward within the Red Cross community. Upon entering high school, I joined the Red Cross Club and served for four years as an officer, two of them as president. I also served as the LDC Liaison on my chapter's Youth Executive Board, as well as chair of the content committee, which I joined in 2001 as chief field reporter to utilize the site as a method of providing opportunities and to educate others on what the Red Cross has to offer.
In addition to my work with the Red Cross, I ballroom dance and make serious efforts to keep up with my correspondence.
I plan to continue my involvement with the Red Cross at Columbia University, where I’m headed this fall, 2003.
After working on the web site, I hope to get into a more hands-on involvement with the Red Cross. I want to get involved in a way so I can see the impact more clearly. I'm particularly interested in promoting blood drives in high schools and in the community in general.
But the Red Cross hasn’t been all stoic community service for me; it has provided some lighter moments as well as great friendships. Funny things happen all the time when I'm working for Red Cross. There was the time Marty Evans, President and CEO of the American Red Cross, was visiting our chapter and mistook one of our youth advisors as one of the high school students. Then there are those random things, like making up a hula dance for the LDC staff skit, rewording cheers to promote the Red Cross (by incorporating comments about 'getting blood'), and just... yeah. Funny things. Red Cross is a great place to be.
Jarrell Cunningham
As read above, my name is Jarrell Cunningham. I am a native of Dayton, Ohio which is famous for being the residence of Wilbur and Orville Wright and the birthplace of Paul Laurence Dunbar. I am a 15-year-old junior at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. My favorite classes would have to be AP Chemistry and Honors Pre-Calculus. I am a youth volunteer at the Dayton Area Chapter of the American Red Cross. I serve as the youth representative for my chapters Board of Directors. I also serve as a Measles Youth Champion, a national group created by the National Youth Council that helps promote the Measles Initiative.
I joined the Youth Content Committee in March 2002 as a bored 14-year-old who aspired to be OB/GYN. Now after being on the committee for more than a year, I now aspire to be a journalist. This committee has helped me grow as a volunteer, writer, and most importantly, a person has I hoped it would.
In my free time (though I don't have much anymore), I like to volunteer, work at McDonalds, read, talk, and of course, write.
Ashleigh Howard
I am 18 years old and a first year student at Christopher Newport University in Newport News Virginia beginning in Fall 2003. At college, I will be studying Pre-med and hope to become a pediatrician because I love children and helping people. Hopefully, I’ll be able to work in Africa for a year or so someday and really make a difference, then work permanently in a rural part of the United States.
I became a Red Cross volunteer for the Rappahannock Area Chapter at the beginning of my junior year of high school, and began writing for the Content Committee in March that year. At my chapter, I was president of the Youth Team during my senior year of high school. I worked with the adult coordinators to plan projects like blood drives and fundraisers for the Measles Initiative.
When I’m not writing, studying, or volunteering at my own chapter, I love having fun with my girlfriends (sleepovers, movies, etc.), playing music, and dancing. I have danced for 12 years, and hope to continue throughout college. My senior year of high school I danced on the school team called the “Indianettes,” but I’m really a ballerina at heart. I also play French Horn and piano, but just for fun.
Jennifer Lee
I began volunteering with the Orange County Chapter of the American Red Cross in 1997. Over the past 6 years, I have been involved with almost every aspect of the organization with two different chapters.
While in Orange County, I served as my high school’s club president, organizing fundraisers, volunteer projects and blood drives. After a teacher was diagnosed with a terminal illness, I organized a blood drive that brought in a record number of donors. As a result, the Southern California Blood Region awarded Sunny Hills High School with the Theresa Del Rio award for the greatest increase in blood donation. In addition, I served on the Orange County Youth Executive Board as the Leadership Development Center (LDC) Liaison and Youth Ambassador. As the LDC liaison, I assisted in organizing the annual camp, and also served as a staff member for two years. In 2001, I was the Mountain Pacific Region nominee for the Woodrow Wilson Award and received Orange County’s Golden Circle Award for Youth Services.
As a volunteer with Bay Area Chapter of the American Red Cross, I currently serve on the Alameda County Disaster Leadership Board and responds as a Disaster Action Team member. I am also the High School Club Sponsor for 3 counties and teach First Aid and CPR classes.
I am currently a third-year student at UC Berkeley pursuing degrees in Economics and Business Administration. My goal for the YCC is to make the web site a valuable resource for both current volunteers as well as new ones.
I’ve been inspired by so many people in the Red Cross, and I want to share their stories with youth across the country.
Justin Liu
I’ve been involved in the Orange County Chapter of the American Red Cross since my freshman year of high school, when I joined the Red Cross club and was trained for the Youth in Emergency Services program. I also worked as a club officer, volunteered at numerous blood drives, youth events and youth programs such as Leadership Development Center. One of the activities that I joined in my first year at our chapter was program called Y = MC2, which helps teach leadership skills to middle school students through presentations at their schools.
Besides volunteer work, my hobbies are playing Scrabble competitively, gaming, reading, playing tennis and trying new things.
I first joined the National Youth Content Committee in 2002 to join two of my favorite activities in school, volunteering and journalism. I was the Copy Editor and then Editor-in-Chief of my high school newspaper and saw the position of Managing Editor on the YCC as a great opportunity.
Right now, I’m 18 years old and a freshman at Stanford University and I’m planning to major in philosophy.
Shaun Zacharia
My name is Shaun Zacharia, I am a 15-year-old sophomore and have been involved in the Red Cross since a young age.
Ever since I can remember I’ve always been interested in computers. When I’m not in school or volunteering my time at the Red Cross I guarantee you will find me in front of the computer. I’ve been known to be quite the nerd and I hope that I can use these skills to help the Youth Website grow into a useful and user-friendly environment.
On the rare occasion that I’m not planted in front of the computer you can find me playing guitar or out on the lake. Writing and listening to music is not just a hobby of mine, it’s an obsession.
I currently sit on the Youth Council at the Knoxville Area Chapter as webmaster. I also volunteer my time with the S.P.A.R.C. program for assisted living and the Measles Initiative. I enjoy working with the Red Cross because I feel like I am making a difference in not just the community but globally. It is a very rewarding experience which makes me feel a lot better about myself. My biggest motive came from my Christian beliefs of devoting my time in helping people.
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