Maya Parra is 17 years old and goes to high school in Chula Vista, CA

Her story…

A little over a year ago, I joined the Red Cross Club at my school with the hope of obtaining 30 community service hours as part of a high school graduation requirement. However, as time went by, I realized that I began to be fueled by a passion to volunteer with this amazing organization. Nowadays, I find myself looking forward to the weekends in which I drive the 30 minutes to volunteer at the Red Cross Headquarters. Thus far, I’ve gathered over 200 hours with no plans in stopping because of my love for helping others and making a difference in my community.

The Red Cross has several services they provide blood services, services to the armed forces, and disaster management, with the goal to provide relief and improve the lives of people in communities. Through continuous efforts, this organization provides assistance to people during times of disasters, blood supplies for hospitals, and works to ensure safety in all parts of the community. My work as a volunteer is mainly focused on their San Diego Youth Volunteer and Blood Services. Through my leadership position as blood chair for my school club, I have organized several blood drives at Eastlake, with our last blood drive garnering over 50 donations. In this position, the co-chair and I are responsible for promoting blood drives, gathering volunteers and donors, and organizing schedules. I arrive at school early and stay late for the set-up and clean-up of the Blood Drive. 

In addition to organizing events for my school and community, last summer I participated in a volunteer program as a Blood Drive Ambassador, volunteering 4-6 hour shifts for 10 days throughout San Diego County at various community blood drives organized by Red Cross personnel. During the school year, I had the pleasure of being a part of a planning committee for two youth camps. The purpose of these camps is to teach young students important leadership skills in order to foster future leaders. As a committee member, I collaborated with five other students to review applications, plan activities, and organize the structure for the camps. As a summer camp leader, I was responsible for facilitating the various activities that were designed for high school participants.

Due to the various roles, I have held in the Red Cross organization, I feel accomplished as a volunteer for dedicating my time to serve others. I have made contributions as a regular blood donor, donating three times since I was of age to donate, and gathering blood donors for blood drives.  This has helped to save hundreds of lives. Additionally, through the youth camps, I have contributed to advancing the leadership skills of youth all across San Diego. Furthermore, I’ve had the greatest accomplishment of building character. Overall, as a young leader, I’ve developed confidence in myself and pride in the work that I have accomplished in serving my community as a volunteer. I strongly believe that volunteering for the Red Cross has been the best decision that I have made in my high school career.

Maya donated her charity award money to the Red Cross.