Grainger employees in San Diego County  get trained to respond.

On Saturday, January 19th, 31 employees from W. W. Grainger, Inc., locations across San Diego County came to the American Red Cross for a day of disaster response volunteer training. In addition to receiving disaster preparedness information, employees were trained in sheltering, logistics, and the Response Call Enterprise.

Ready When the Time Comes (RWTC) was developed in 2001 as a partnership between the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago and W. W. Grainger, Inc. Following the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, Grainger and the Office of the National Chair of Volunteers of the American Red Cross agreed to launch a national RWTC program to model corporate volunteer involvement in disaster response.

Building on its commitment to the American Red Cross, W. W. Grainger, Inc., proudly serves as the national founding sponsor of the Ready When the Time Comes national pilot program. Today over 2,700 employees from 104 partner agencies are trained in Ready When the Time Comes volunteers in 16 cities across the country.  The company has donated more than $1M to help pilot this program, including $30,000 to the San Diego/Imperial Counties Chapter.

Oceanside Glasstile makes  a commitment to be prepared.

The American Red Cross has a long and strong partnership with Oceanside Glasstile.  Whether offering first aid and CPR classes to their employees or stockpiling evacuation supplies, the company takes preparedness seriously.

Volunteering has always been important to Oceanside Glasstile employees.  Located in Carlsbad, the company had several employees evacuate during the 2007 Wildfires.  They understand that when disaster strikes, they need to be trained and ready to go to be best utilized in the community.

In December, Oceanside Glasstile employees participated in the San Diego Red Cross's first local Ready When the Time Comes training by taking the Sheltering class. In June several more volunteers were trained in Logistics. These employee volunteers are ready to go should the opportunity arise for their community service to be needed. 

In early 2008, Qualcomm began participating in Ready When The Time Comes in order to establish a cadre of trained American Red Cross volunteers who could be quickly deployed during a local or regional disaster. To date, 21 employees have attended a Sheltering training class and 5 have attended a Response Center Enterprise (RCE) training class. During the devastating June floods in the Midwest, these RCE-trained employees volunteered over 25 hours of service to help the National Red Cross Call center. Qualcomm plans to continue working closely with the Red Cross to increase the number of trained RWTC volunteers.

Qualcomm has provided financial support to the San Diego/Imperial Counties American Red Cross, other U.S. chapters, and the American Red Cross International Response Fund.  Their support includes more than $1.8 million in combined funding for the local chapter and American Red Cross’ responses to disasters such as the San Diego wildfires in 2007 and 2003, September 11th, $100,000, Hurricane Katrina, and the 2005 Southeast Asian tsunami.

While the University of Florida is usually recognized for its tremendous sports programs, its San Diego representatives can be applauded for their service to the community. The club raises funds for scholarships, participates in beach clean-ups, and thanks to Ready When the Time Comes, now has the ability to help the American Red Cross during a disaster.

The University of Florida Alumni Association became interested in Ready When the Time Comes as a way for local members to volunteer together in areas of the country that have RWTC programs. As the test market for the nationwide rollout, the San Diego Gator Club participated in a Red Cross Shelter Training in June 2008.  17 Gator Aiders came to the training to receive family preparedness information and basic disaster response training.  The club plans to conduct additional trainings in Response Call Enterprise and Logistics to increase their capacity to be utilized during a response.