Introduction I have a dream of serving others in great times of need. To fully commit to this dream, I believe that I will be best suited to begin this journey when I enter retirement. After some critical comparison between the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the American Red Cross, I have found that the Red Cross is a most versatile organization with opportunities to serve every day. Both organizations are incredible humanitarian programs, but when comparing the two as if I were a retiree, I found that the Red Cross has many more everyday programs, whereas FEMA seemed more like beginning a second career. Mission Statement Finding a solid feel for the two organizations began with exploring their mission statements. FEMA’s is very plain and direct, “Helping people before, during, and after disasters.” (fema.gov) They achieve this mission through education prior to catastrophes, assembling resources and activating notifications during, and providing support and guidance for citizens afterwards. The Red Cross has a broad and elegant mission statement. “To prevent and alleviate …show more content…
FEMA is a United States Federal Agency, and part of the office of Homeland Security. They have a focus on serving the USA and its territories. They do this with a system that divides the country into 10 regions. I found this method to broad to effectively serve the various citizenship. With distance there is bound to be some disconnect. When exploring open roles with FEMA, I noticed many of them to be paid government positions with a suite of benefits. On the other hand, the Red Cross not only has local chapters in each US state, but they are also present in almost 200 countries. The Red Cross also claim that “90% of the Red Cross workforce are volunteers.” (redcross.org) I analyzed this information to represent the very grassroots structure of the Red Cross across the world. People within communities helping their