The American Red Cross Los Angeles Region READYteens Program has a mission to educate youth and young adults in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. Open to high school and college students, READYteens volunteers have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience to enhance community preparedness and public health resilience.
Throughout the academic year, READYteens facilitates several training programs, providing opportunities for volunteers to lead presentations and community work, engage with READYteens content, and prepare their own communities. READYteens prepares you to be a Red Cross Disaster Volunteer in your community, school campus, and across the region!
Every summer, READYteens hosts a three-week program covering key areas of the disaster cycle including preparedness education, Incident Command System (ICS), emergency communications, medical response, search & rescue, active shooter, psychological first aid, sheltering & feeding, fundraising, and more. The Summer 2025 program will be held Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 3-6 PM, from July 7, 2025 - July 25, 2025. Interested in applying? Visit the link below to apply!
Below, you may find some more information on the program. If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to denis.bi@redcross.org. Thank you for your interest!
Photo taken during the READYteens 2020 Program
The READYteens Program was launched in June 2019 within the Greater Long Beach Chapter. The program was held in-person from July - August 2019 with around 35 participants.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, it expanded virtually, hosted from May - June 2020, with around 120 participants from around the nation including youth volunteers from the LA, Southern California, and South Florida Regions. In Summer 2021, the summer program hosted around 100 participants from the Los Angeles and Southern California Regions virtually.
In the summer of 2022, the program resumed its in-person sessions, and has continued to host in-person events for participants since, at three separate locations across the LA Region: Arcadia, Commerce, and Long Beach. Additionally, in the summer of 2023, the program added a new site at Sherman Oaks.
Photo of the Arcadia READYteens Site during the 2024 READYteens Program.
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Since its launch in 2019, over 5,000 Red Cross Youth Volunteers from across the nation have had the opportunity to participate in our programs. Our summer programs alone have nearly 1,000 alumni since 2019 and over 30,000 volunteer hours have been logged through participation in READYteens programs.