Editor's Note: Written by Brea DuBose, PR and Publicity Lead with American Red Cross Bavaria
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GRAFENWOEHR, Germany — March is Red Cross Month, and American Red Cross Bavaria highlights the people that make its mission possible: volunteers!
Red Cross volunteer, Anthony Tetro, is the regional coordinator of the International Humanitarian Law Youth Action Campaign for Central Europe. In this role, he teaches community members, aged 13 to 25 years, about International Humanitarian Law and how it applies to the Red Cross. The program works to educate the public on the rules of war. This year’s theme is Preservation of Cultural Property. Many of his students are military children in high school.
“It’s very cool to see high school kids very interested in this program and the amount of effort they put into creating their social media campaigns — asking all the right questions during the training,” Tetro said. “It definitely shows me that there are youth advocates who are interested in this kind of work.”
Since November 2020, Tetro taught virtual classes in the evening to youth throughout Central Europe. Tetro teaches his students about the history and principles of IHL, Red Cross Principles, and how to build their own campaigns. The youth then create a grassroots awareness campaign through social media and in-person presentations.
“It’s definitely nice to come home and work with people who are that motivated to learn about IHL,” he said.
Tetro says he’s inspired by his students’ interest in the program.
Volunteers like Tetro make up 90% of the American Red Cross workforce. Red Cross Month began almost 80 years ago, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt first proclaimed March as Red Cross Month to raise awareness of the organization’s critical humanitarian mission. Our work today is powered by volunteers, financial and blood donors, community partners and people trained in vital health and safety skills. Their actions provide hope. To learn more about the Red Cross mission in Bavaria, visit https://www.facebook.com/ARCGRAFVILSECK.
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