AMERICAN RED CROSS

American Red Cross



American Red Cross

Introduction

The human service, nonprofit, charitable, and voluntary sector is important to our society. The labels used to distinguish these organizations from government and private-sector corporations reveal their merits: nonprofit, accenting altruism and disregard of self-interest; charitable, referring to reliance on donations and generosity; and voluntary, indicating the significance of volunteers as a primary resource. They are powerful generators of social value for certain, but they also create economic value. The human service organization that has been selected for this paper is American Red Cross. The American Red Cross is a humanitarian organization led by volunteers and guided by the Charter established by the United States Congress and the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross.

History

American Red Cross (commonly known as Red Cross) was established in 1863 as a non-profit social organization. Red Cross works under the head of The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, which is the world's largest humanitarian network. Main objective of the Red Cross is to protect life and health, assuage human suffering, and endorse human dignity (Schmid et al, 2008). Red Cross supported the development of international humanitarian law (IHL) to make the basis for guiding its vision and mission. Red Cross has global operations and present in nearly every country.

Mission Statement

The Red Cross, a humanitarian organization led by volunteers and guided by its Congressional Charter and the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, will provide relief to victims of disaster and help people prevent, prepare for, respond to emergencies, and enhance the well-being of people at vulnerable times in their lives (McLuskey, 2003).

Vision

Red Cross works on the principles of impartiality, voluntary service, humanity, neutrality, independence, and unity. Vision of Red Cross is not limited to providing services, but provides value ...