Red Cross Society plans recruitment program

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The Red Cross Society of China, the country's biggest humanitarian organization, will establish a nationwide system to encourage the volunteer spirit.

China has about 2 million registered Red Cross volunteers, and 190,000 are highly active, according to estimates by Zhao Baige, the society's executive vice-president.

"Volunteers are an indispensable part of the Red Cross movement, but China lacks a well-working system for volunteer recruitment, maintenance and coordination," she said at an award ceremony on Tuesday.

More than 100 China Red Cross volunteers at home and abroad were awarded for their service at the event to celebrate International Volunteer Day, which is Dec 5.

She conceded that government funding for volunteer efforts remains insufficient.

She said the society will allocate special funds for such efforts in coming years, and future goals regarding volunteer service and maintenance have been set.

By 2015, provincial, city and county China Red Cross branches will set up volunteer groups in major areas like disaster relief, emergency response, community health service, and blood and human organ donations.

Matching that, a nationwide volunteer maintenance and service system will be created to support their services, she said.

Zhao urged China Red Cross branches across the mainland to develop more brand-name volunteer projects, which primarily cater to demands of vulnerable groups, including childless elderly residents, migrant workers, and their families left behind at home villages.

"Through such projects, we hope to influence government policies," Zhao said.

Society Vice-President Guo Changjiang said volunteers will be categorized according to major humanitarian tasks of the China Red Cross, including emergency responses and blood donation advocacy.

He urged branches to enlarge their volunteer bases, which can cover different professions and fields that are most in need.

Guo said volunteers can help mainly during major events such as the Beijing Olympics.

Zhao said: "Specialty volunteers with needed skills will dominate future volunteer tasks." She added that the society will also give volunteers more training.

Questions:

1. How many Red Cross volunteers are in China?

2. How many are active?

3. What is Dec 5?

Answers:

1. About 2 million.

2. 190,000.

3. International Volunteer Day.

（中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑）

About the broadcaster:

Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is also fluent in Korean.