Usha and Dev: How Two High School Students are Making a Difference with the Red Cross

Written by: Stacy Ndlovu, volunteer

School might be out, but Usha and Dev are hard at work, kick-starting the School Without Walls’ Red Cross Club. Because of their passion for humanitarian work, these high school students decided to partner with the American Red Cross’ Executive Director Jessica Adams to launch a club at their high school with the goal of getting more young people involved in contributing to positive action in their communities.

“We felt it was important to educate and involve our peers because the more people who are aware of the Red Cross, the more people will be inspired to make a difference,” said Dev.

Although they are in the early stages of building, the duo has already gained valuable experience in leadership, project management and teamwork. “It has been an exciting and rewarding process, but it hasn’t all been easy,” recounts Usha.

The Red Cross Club within the School Without Walls officially opened in June after many long hours of hard work and determination, which involved writing a club constitution that mirrored the values and the mission of the Red Cross. Usha and Dev found it challenging to work with different students; finding a balance between different personalities and getting them all to work together towards a common goal. However, they clearly figured it out because in less than a month, the club already has 20 members!

The School Without Walls’ Red Cross Club has already successfully raised money through bake sales, a raffle, and donated to the National Capital Region. Usha and Dev are currently working on developing their club website, but in the meantime, you can follow their work on their Instagram page @SWWRedCross. 

Want to keep up with National Red Cross youth initiatives? Visit RedCrossYouth.org.

My Red Cross Volunteer Story: Prabhleen Batra, President of the Paint Branch High School Red Cross Club

Written by: Melanie Benson, volunteer

“Seva,” Prabhleen Batra tells me, “means selfless service.”  Prabhleen has practiced Seva, a foundational principle of Sikhism that encourages service without any personal benefit or reward, throughout her life.  She has a long history of volunteerism through community activities with her temple and serving at a local soup kitchen with her mother.  Adhering to this personal passion, it made sense that three years ago as a freshman at Paint Branch High School, MD, Prabhleen immersed herself fully in the school’s Red Cross club.

Today, amid a full schedule of other activities (Model UN, SGA, and honor societies), Prabhleen, now a junior, serves as club president.  What many may not know, however, is that Prabhleen is far more than the club’s leader - she is the reason that the club still exists.  During her sophomore year, Paint Branch’s Red Cross club struggled.  The club lacked direction and faced a bigger challenge when its faculty sponsor stepped down.  Recognizing the value of the club’s work, Prabhleen took action to preserve the Red Cross club.  She found a new sponsor, Ms. Weiss, a Spanish teacher, and rallied to convince her friends to join in club activities.

Today, Prabhleen’s leadership is supported by a vice president, community lead and secretary.  The revamped Red Cross club has 20 regular members who meet twice each month.  The club’s members work together to recommend activities of interest, such as repeated favorites including bake sales, preparing and sharing kit drives and making cards for heroes.  Currently, Paint Branch’s club is working on two larger community events, a blood drive, to be hosted around the beginning of summer, and a Fire Safety Canvassing Day in collaboration with the nearby Burtonsville Fire Department.

Reflecting on the progress the once struggling club has made, Prabhleen points to Ms. Karine Sewell’s visit to the school’s club as an inflection point and an activity that profoundly motivated club members. Ms. Sewell, the Red Cross Executive Director for Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, visited the Red Cross members at Paint Branch to share stories of other school clubs and to offer activity ideas and support.  Ms. Sewell’s visit inspired the Paint Branch club with the impact of other clubs in the community and motivated them to add their own positive mark on their neighborhood.

Prabhleen urges other schools in the area to get involved with the Red Cross.  She recognizes that alternatives for community service exist through various honor societies, but highlights that the Red Cross has unique activities that make club diversity valuable.

Next year, Prabhleen will enter her last year at Paint Branch.  While she excitedly explores what will come next, she has already begun to take steps to ensure that the Red Cross club will continue to flourish for other students to enjoy.  Working as a mentor with current freshmen, Prabhleen is certain that the club will continue to do good even after her graduation.  She offers this wisdom to the underclassmen, "If each person does their part and gives a little back to the community, the lives of those less fortunate will be transformed.”

My Red Cross VolunTeens Story: Valerie Myers and Annabel Lee

Written by: Valerie Myers and Annabel Lee, VolunTeens


This summer at the Walter Reed National Military Center in Bethesda, MD more than 50 high school students participated in the American Red Cross VolunTeen Program. The students received hands-on experience to learn what it’s like to be in a hospital setting and work in a Military Treatment Facility by engaging with patients, soldiers and other Red Cross volunteers. The competitive application process for the program began in the spring when high school students submitted a teacher’s recommendation and essays regarding their interest in the medical field, challenges they have faced in the past and relevant volunteering experiences. Just over 50 students were chosen to participate in the six week program that included a new educational component each week, called Medical Awareness for Teens. 


Students were assigned to departments such as Audiology, Dermatology, Hematology, Psychiatry and Pediatrics. Besides answering phone calls and organizing files for the staff, the students supported doctors, nurses and technicians, and even observed medical procedures and processes depending on their department. Some students were also assigned to the Red Cross office, where they helped other Red Cross volunteers deliver coffee, snacks and toys for the patients and families receiving care at Walter Reed.

“I’ve really liked it so far,” said Alyssa Yu, teen volunteer in the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology department. “I think it’s a really cool experience. It’s different from other things that I would otherwise do because of my age. Before coming here, I wasn’t that into the medical field. To be honest, I thought it was cool instead of doing camp counseling or something, but now that I’m here, especially with Medical Awareness for Teens, I’m actually a lot more interested in it. Surgery seems really fun … And I really like the new research that they [the doctors] are showing.”

With the help of some amazing staff at Walter Reed, the Red Cross was able to include an educational component called Medical Awareness for Teens (M.A.T). The educational events created opportunities to learn in an interactive way and take a closer look at a few departments within the Military Treatment Facility.

The MAT Program was divided into five parts over the summer: Common Medical Diagnosis, Amputee Clinic, Radiation Oncology/Radiology, Simulation Center, and Occupational Therapy. In these briefings students had the opportunity to hold plasticized body parts while learning about common medical diagnoses and even got to touch a real brain! They were able to operate the CAREN system, an immersive virtual reality system...basically an interactive video game used to train for balance and skills. They were also taught basic suturing skills and were able to practice these skills in the Simulation Center.

“[MAT] brings much more hands-on experience than what my actual job entails,” senior Tristan Hanlin said.

Through the work in their departments and MAT, the VolunTeens were able to get an idea of what the medical field entails and what they could possibly pursue in the future. Not only will they have earned hours for their student service learning this summer, but they also gained an invaluable experience that can be applied in future careers.

My Red Cross Volunteer Story: Sara El Saied

By Emily Goff

Within Sara El Saied, a spirit of profound selflessness glows, receiving its life from the most enriching fuel of all: volunteerism. More specifically, this admirable woman contributes her time, energy and skills to the Red Cross as a faithful volunteer and cherishes the extensive variety of experiences she has collected throughout her time thus far. Sara has been volunteering with the Red Cross since April 2015 and embodies what one ought to do in order to transform our society and world into a better place.

What kindled Sara’s linkage to the Red Cross was a friend’s recommendation, as well as a substantial amount of personal appreciation for the organization’s fundamental pillars. In fact, she informed me, “I was inspired to become involved with the American Red Cross because of the mission. To me, I have felt that there is tremendous value in being a volunteer because of my core belief in serving others. I felt pulled by this organization of volunteers who are committed so strongly to saving lives and ending human suffering around the world.”

In terms of her experiences as a volunteer for the Red Cross, Sara has been involved, and continues to be involved, with numerous crucial efforts.  She stated, “I served as the Volunteer Recruitment lead for the Salute to Service Gala, where I supported Volunteer Engagement with recruitment and orientation for the Gala. Currently, I am one of the Community Volunteer Leaders for Fairfax County and Youth Lead. I manage the recruitment/on-boarding of new high school or college/university clubs and support the logistics of their activities throughout the year. I also work with the Denise Miller, Executive Director of Fairfax County, to plan and execute quarterly meetings for all clubs. I work with her to support local fundraising events such as our In the Bag purse auction event, as well as work with local fire departments on the Home Fire Campaign.” There is seemingly no end to her compassion, dependability, and her generosity to the Red Cross.

The humanitarian spirit of Sara has been shaped by countless experiences, with one in particular that still lingers in her mind with perfect clarity, even months after its occurrence. Sara recalls, “The one profound moment that still stays with me is when I heard the story that Erwin [The Executive Director for Price William and Loudoun Counties] shared with the youth at our kick-off event about a woman who saved her husband's life because she performed CPR. The procedure she applied was the one that was taught by a class she had taken with the Red Cross. The strength of that woman speaking to a 9-1-1 operator while performing CPR – and especially after hearing that the ambulance first arrived at the wrong house – is absolutely remarkable.” Such a story certainly motivates and empowers Sara to help others through the Red Cross.

Sara’s story shares a critical truth we all should tuck into our pockets and invite to guide our actions as citizens, as aspiring volunteers, as current volunteers, as leaders and as humans: lives are fragile and we must always strive to preserve them, however minute our individual efforts towards such a large-scale goal may seem to be. As Sara voiced herself, “A pint of blood can save a life, taking a CPR class can save a life, informing your community about fire safety can save life – the list goes on and on.”