[A Civilian Defense Volunteer Office] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov] We, the people........... In this critical moment of our history, all of us, from all walks of life, all shades of political opinion, all races and creeds, must organize and train ourselves—to defend ourselves. And when we join together to defend our local community we add strength not only to our local community hut to our national community as well—we help to fortify our whole union. Franklin D. Roosevelt President of the United States A CIVILIAN DEFENSE VOLUNTEER OFFICE Page What It Is.........................1 Bow It Is Set Up...................3 What It Does.......................3 How To Organize It................13 Volunteer Activities in Civilian Defense.........................15 Training Courses in Civilian Defense . 27 Volunteer Enrollment Card .... 29 Work Opportunitg Card.............31 Regional Directors................34 Voluntarg Participation Committee . 34 UNITED STATES OFFICE OF CIVILIAN DEFENSE WASHINGTON, D. C. The horrors of all-out war are not pleasant to consider. But, unfortunately, facts are facts. The pattern of Axis aggression is clearly recorded in bombed cities, enslaved peoples, treacherous fifth columnists’ lying promises, and the destruction of human freedoms. War no longer merely pits army against army, navy against navy. It reaches down to the old and the young; to peace-loving men, women, and children in their homes. This record cannot be blinked away by wishful thinking. The new type of war was the choice of the Axis. Czechoslovakia, Poland, Holland, Belgium, France, Jugoslavia, Greece, Norway, and Luxemburg found themselves unprepared and fell under the ruthless control of the dictators. The experience of these nations has been unbelievably sad; they learned their lesson the hardest way. The entire world has had its warning—the United States is heeding it. Every patriotic citizen, no matter what his politics, creed, race, or personal position, must unite to prepare his country for whatever dangers may be ahead. Our Army and Navy is being built to full strength at great sacrifice by millions of men. But now, more than ever before, our strength is the strength of each citizen. We are therefore recruiting a new protective force—Civilian Defense. Every citizen, whether young or old, rich or poor, man or woman, is needed. Civilian Defense has two tasks: 1. The first is to prepare for the day we pray may never come; when bombs and artillery fire fall on our cities, towns, and the countryside, and when men, women, and children must stand prepared to defend their homes and liberties. 2. The second is to better the health, economic security, and wellbeing of our people, to make our country strong. The job is tremendous, calling for the cooperation of all community organizations and of each and every citizen, to one end—community defense. The Office of Civilian Defense will direct this national movement. But the responsibility for organizing and training will rest on each and every local community. Each and every citizen can be used. The Civilian Defense Volunteer Office in each locality is the place for all to enroll and train. The United States has something real to defend—the inalienable right, in its simplest terms, to lead, in our own way, decent lives. U. S. Director Civilian Defense. ni A CIVILIAN DEFENSE VOLUNTEER OFFICE . . . What it is Its purposes I. To recruit men and women volunteers for civilian defense and to recommend them to local civilian defense programs and established community agencies whose services need to be expanded. II. To strengthen morale through the satisfaction which will come to civilian volunteers—those with much leisure and those with little— by doing useful community work. Its functions I. To discover and promote opportunities for volunteers in the following types of local programs: 1. Civilian protection programs. 2. Federal and State programs in the fields of health, family security, recreation, social protection, child welfare, and education. 3. Programs of established public community agencies and those of private agencies accredited locally. 4. Other local programs such as information services to men in uniform and defense industry workers and their families; USO programs; consumer information; salvage programs; promotion of the sale of defense savings bonds, etc. 5. American unity programs such as intergroup good will; safeguarding civil liberties; adult education; patriotic rallies, exhibits, etc. 6. Programs in liaison with war relief organizations. II. To serve as a clearing house for programs of training by— 1. Finding out what training is needed, what is already being offered, and keeping up-to-date records of available courses. 2. Making arrangements for needed additional courses. III. To coordinate the recruiting and enrollment of all men and women volunteers without supplanting the recruiting already being done by such agencies as the Red Cross and city departments, merely asking them to clear with the Volunteer Office. Arrangements should be made to use all volunteers who have been trained by responsible existing private welfare and health agencies. IV. To interview volunteers and refer them to training or jobs suited to their individual capabilities. 1 V. To maintain standards of volunteer service in the various local programs using volunteers. VI. To report quarterly to the local Defense Council or to the United States Director of Civilian Defense when he requests such information, the number of volunteers placed in the various local programs or in training courses and the number of hours of service rendered. The purpose of Volunteer Offices is the same regardless of the size and type of community and the functions vary only insofar as the presence or absence of organized facilities necessitates. 2 A CIVILIAN DEFENSE VOLUNTEER OFFICE . . . How it is set up Sponsoring group A Civilian Defense Volunteer Office is an integral part of the local defense organization. It functions as a separate unit under the local Defense Council, preferably under a section or division on Volunteer Participation. It has a close relationship with any social planning council which exists. Governing board As the Volunteer Office is a coordinating service belonging to the whole community, it is administered by a board composed of men and women, representative, as far as practical, of all interested community groups—women’s organizations, labor organizations, men’s civic organizations, patriotic organizations, church groups, social agency boards, fraternal orders, etc. The board should be strictly non-political in character. It should include a liaison representative from both the board of the Defense Council and that of the social planning council. When the number of interested community groups is too large to make it practical to build an administrative board on a representative basis, an advisory board should be made up of these people. From this board, an executive committee should be elected to be responsible for administration. In rural counties where there may be fewer organizations to represent, care should be taken to have the board representative of all interested groups. The board or the executive committee has the usual officers and standing committees on Finance and Publicity. The viewpoint of officials and professional people—city officials, social workers, doctors, nurses, dieticians, and others who use volunteers—should be secured through an advisory committee. Where the Volunteer Office serves an entire county in which there are incorporated cities, towns, and villages, no attempt should be made to represent individual cities or towns on the board. This representation can come through branch offices which handle enrollment and referral of volunteers in the various localities. Committees An extensive staff for a Volunteer Office is not recommended even in the case of large metropolitan areas. Since effective operation of a Volunteer Office requires extensive planning, the board or the executive committee should appoint at least the following three 3 committees (the chairman and the director serving as a member of each, ex officio): 1. Placement Committee—which refers volunteers to jobs and training courses, but only after it has secured the facts about them. 2. Training Course Committee—which clears existing training courses and makes arrangements for the development of any needed courses. 3. Recruiting and Enrollment Committee—which is responsible for recruiting and enrolling volunteers to fill the jobs found. These groups plan the above phases of the work, and arrange the training of the volunteer staff who do the greater part of the work. Suggestions for the type of training needed are given under Staff. Staff director A Volunteer Office should, if it is to function effectively, have a full-time director. The duties of the director consist chiefly in organizing and managing the Volunteer Service Office and guiding its relationships. The principal qualifications are, therefore, administrative ability; knowledge of community organization; initiative; leadership; ability to make good contacts with people. Small communities, such as towns or rural counties, may be able to secure a well-qualified volunteer who will serve as director. Large metropolitan areas, on the other hand, may have to pay an executive. Such executives may be found among men or women who have had experience in a council of social agencies, a personnel bureau, or as a college dean or counselor and who are not professionally employed because of home duties. The board of the Volunteer Office should endeavor to persuade such persons to make their skill available in this emergency. In some instances they may be financially able to volunteer their services and in others they may agree to work for a relatively low salary. Other sources for a director are public and private social agencies; the public employment service, which might have on its staff workers who are ready for promotion to an executive position or which might have suitable candidates enrolled with it; and, in larger cities, any private employment service which specializes in handling executive personnel. Other staff A Volunteer Office should also have at least one full-time clerical worker. Where branch offices are necessary, there should be in each branch a full-time clerical worker who has executive ability. In small communities such workers may often be persuaded to serve on a voluntary basis, but in large metropolitan areas the full-time clerical workers will more often have to be paid. Volunteer workers may be used very effectively to carry out the work planned by the Placement Committee and the Recruiting and Enrollment Committee. 4 The course for training the Placement Committee workers should cover the following topics: -1. The Civilian Defense Volunteer Office—what it is—what it does. 2. Standards of volunteer service. 3. Review of organized community services. 4. How to interview department and agency heads. 5. How to fill out the forms for getting facts about jobs. 6. How to use the files of the Volunteer Service Office. 7. How to interview a volunteer to check his or her suitability for the job, including the proper approach to a volunteer. 8. How to maintain good relationships with the departments or agencies to which volunteers are referred. 9. How to use referral forms and how to record a placement. The course for training the Recruiting and Enrollment Committee workers should cover the following topics: 1. The Civilian Defense Volunteer Office—what it is—what it does. 2. Standards of volunteer service. 3. Types of volunteer jobs and qualifications for workers in each case. 4. Review of organized membership groups in the community. 5. Methods of recruiting. 6. How to interview prospective volunteers. 7. How to fill out enrollment cards. Where volunteers are being trained simultaneously to do the above-mentioned jobs, both time and effort can be saved by having joint sessions of the training courses when basic subject matter is being dealt with. For example, there could be a joint session on “The Civilian Defense Volunteer Office—what it is—what it does.” Similarly, there could be a joint session on “Standards of volunteer service.” Such economizing should be avoided, however, when a joint session results in bringing together a group larger than 35 or 40 because in such a group, discussion is virtually impossible. In sizable cities where there are a number of organized services, it will be relatively easy to get leadership for such courses. Rural communities, having less easy access to organized services, should turn to the county welfare department and the extension department of the State University to furnish leadership for training volunteers to do their work. Quarters and Equipment The size and type of the community affects the quarters needed by a Volunteer Office. Whenever possible, the board should try to get rent-free quarters. In a community of less than 500,000 population there should be no need for more than one Volunteer Office, unless the residential section is so widely scattered as to make branches advisable. In communities of over 500,000 and in densely populated counties, however, 411073°—41----------2 there is need for branch offices. The board of the Volunteer Office should determine how many branches are needed and what locations would be strategic. Both the central office and the branches must have space which provides adequately for privacy in interviewing and for necessary filing equipment. In the case of both the central office and branches, quarters should be bright and attractive, decorated by a flag, defense posters, and any other material which will aid in making civilians realize the urgency of the defense program. A little time and thought by a group of volunteers can produce most desirable looking quarters without necessitating any large outlay of funds. The matter of adequate files for Volunteer Offices is extremely important. When a hundred volunteers must be made available immediately to a local civilian protection program, the files must be geared to yielding such information speedily. Moreover, this operation must be performed with a minimum of disorganization to the total file, so that the Volunteer Office will be ready to handle a call for fifty additional volunteers which may come in shortly thereafter. It is impossible in a manual of this sort to discuss in detail the filing system of a Volunteer Office. The various branches of the United States Employment Service, located in all States and in over 3,000 localities, have personnel who are expert in the matter of filing. It is therefore suggested that Volunteer Offices secure advice from their nearest public employment office as to suitable cards for registering volunteers and recording information about jobs and as to suitable filing systems. Using this group is doubly wise, because they are near at hand for additional advice when it is needed. This manual contains a list of the forms usually needed in Volunteer Service Offices and displays two of the forms. This material can be used as a basis for discussion in the conference with the public employment office. Care has been taken to make the suggested forms simple. If Volunteer Offices use their own forms, they should keep them simple. Budget If the community is a very small city or town, or a rural county, the cost of operating a Volunteer Office may be virtually nothing. Some organization, like the public school or the Red Cross, will probably lend someone to direct the office, and the detailed work will be carried on by volunteers whom the director will train. In larger communities, local business firms with trained personnel directors may be persuaded to loan them to organize and direct the Volunteer Office. Quarters may be loaned and so may furniture and filing equipment. The only cash expenditures may be for such items as telephone, stationery and printing, postage, and office supplies. In many communities even printing may be donated. In large communities where it is impossible to borrow a qualified director, a paid director will be required, for the Volunteer Office must be organized and operated on a businesslike basis. In such 6 communities, where branch offices are necessary, a director, a paid clerical worker, and a paid clerk in each branch are essential. Funds for operation will have to be secured, even though quarters, furniture, and filing equipment have all been donated. When funds must be secured, the board of the Volunteer Office should request the local Defense Council or the mayor for support. It is also well to request support from civic and service organizations, women’s organizations, community chests, etc. When securing support from organizations of this sort, it is preferable to have a number of them, rather than one, contribute, so that the Volunteer Office will not be thought of as the project of any one group. It is not practical to discuss here the amount needed to operate a Volunteer Office because this figure will vary greatly in relation to the size of the community and the amount of paid staff needed. 7 A CIVILIAN DEFENSE VOLUNTEER OFFICE . . . What it does Finds and promotes jobs Before Civilian Defense Volunteer Offices recruit volunteers, the Placement Committee should begin to collect facts concerning work opportunities for volunteers. This study should cover— I. Civilian protection programs. II. Federal and State programs in the fields of health, family security, recreation, social protection, child welfare, and education. III. Programs of established public community agencies and those of private agencies accredited locally. IV. Other local programs such as information services to men in uniform and defense industry workers and their families; USO programs; consumer information; salvage programs; promotion of the sale of defense savings bonds, etc. V. American unity programs such as inter-group good will; safeguarding civil liberties; adult education; patriotic rallies, exhibits, etc. VI. Programs in liaison with war-relief organizations. At the same time, the Volunteer Offices should learn for which jobs training is needed and whether training of an approved type is already available or must be developed. (See pp. 16 to 27 for the list of typical volunteer jobs and training courses.) The Office of Civilian Defense is issuing in cooperation with the Office of Health Defense and Welfare Services, and other Federal Departments, manuals listing and describing what volunteers can do in the various fields of health, family security, recreation, nutrition, social protection, child welfare, and education, and what training they will need. These manuals will be distributed by the respective Federal Departments to their State and local units and will undoubtedly stimulate the use of volunteers. They will be of great assistance to Volunteer Offices in their effort to discover and promote volunteer jobs and volunteer training courses. In promoting the wise use of volunteers, the Placement Committee should urge any organization or agency which uses volunteers regularly to take the following steps. These provide a sound foundation for the building of a good volunteer program. The agency should— I. Appoint a member of the board as chairman of volunteers. II. Assign a staff member as supervisor of volunteers. 8 III. Analyze the total work to see what jobs are suitable for volunteers, preparing in the case of each job a description covering duties, time required, qualifications necessary—including special training—and arrangements for supervision. In large cities or suburban counties where the Volunteer Office is set up with branch offices, the job of discovering and promoting jobs for volunteers belongs entirely to the central office. If a branch office should learn of jobs where volunteers are wanted, it should notify the central office in order that the director, or the volunteers trained to do job-finding, may check the opportunity to determine whether the work is suitable for volunteers and whether the training and supervision are adequate. Clears training program Also before they recruit and enroll volunteers, Volunteer Offices should begin to collect facts about what satisfactory training is available and what needs to be developed. The Placement Committee secures much of this information when it locates jobs. However, the Training Course Committee has to do the clearing. If the courses are given by local units of national organizations, they can be reviewed to see whether they measure up to the standards set by the Office of Civilian Defense for national training programs. If they are purely local courses, these standards will be useful in judging them. Manuals of the Office of Civilian Defense,1 previously described, will serve as a guide for local communities in this work. If the study of the local training program reveals that there are important types of training lacking, the Volunteer Office should take the initiative in making arrangements for such additional courses and apprentice training as the community may need. If the missing part of the training program is in a field where a nationally standardized course has been developed, the Volunteer Office should take steps to get the proper local organizations to offer such courses. If the training needed is purely local in character, the Volunteer Office should urge whatever local organizations are best fitted through personnel and equipment to take on this responsibility. In large communities where there are branch offices the entire responsibility for clearing training programs should be lodged with the central office. Recruits and enrolls volunteers When the work of collecting facts about jobs to be done and the making of arrangements for needed training have been begun, a Volunteer Office is ready to recruit and enroll volunteers, but not before. The Recruiting and Enrollment Committee has this responsibility. A Volunteer Office must recruit actively so as to make available to the civilian defense program the best volunteer skill in the community. 1 Also those prepared in cooperation with the office of Coordinator of Health, Welfare and Related Defense Activities and other Federal Departments. 9 It should be remembered that “volunteer” means a person who gives service without remuneration. A volunteer may have a very definite skill to offer. Nurses, social workers, nutritionists, occupational therapists, recreation leaders who are unable to be employed full time because of home duties or other reasons may be able to give many hours a week. Every effort should be made to interest such people in making such time available. The skilled civilians will be especially useful in helping to train the unskilled civilians. For, all civilians who are willing to learn and be disciplined have a vital place in the defense program. Volunteer Offices should make this fact plain and should give wide publicity to the kinds of work which have to be done and the opportunities for learning how to do it. A strong initial recruiting drive is important if the Volunteer Office is to get off to a good start. There should be enough “blare of trumpets” to stimulate civilians to enroll, and continuous publicity is necessary, for recruiting does not end with the initial drive. Recruiting plans should be made at the central office, even if a community has branch offices. Much recruiting can be done through contacts with organized groups—professional organizations, civic organizations, industrial groups, labor groups, church groups, women’s groups, etc. Such contacts are more easily made from the central office. Enrollment should, however, be decentralized when a community has branch offices. Enrollment is of course continuous after the initial period. It is the initial enrollment, however, which may present problems. In communities which are small enough to have only a central office, enrollment for jobs should take place as soon as an adequate volunteer staff has been trained. In communities where branch offices are necessary, it may be impossible to secure sufficiently well trained volunteers to man all branches at once. The expedient thing to do is to stagger the initial enrollment, moving the well-trained staff from branch to branch until the entire job is done. Branch offices should send duplicates of all enrollment cards to the central office. This is important in order that— 1. There may be a central pool of information regarding the vital tasks civilian volunteers are prepared to do. 2. The central office may know in emergencies where to find quickly special types of ability. Refers volunteers to jobs or training courses After the groundwork for operation has been laid, the Placement Committee can begin its task of connecting volunteers with training courses or jobs. This is the heart of the work. There are two principles which are basic to effective placement of volunteers. Every Volunteer Office should heed them. They are: IO 1. That volunteers should be placed where they are best fitted to serve, following the same principles which hold for gocd placement of paid workers. 2. That volunteer service which is of a part-time or temporary nature should be supplementary to that of a full-time staff, whether paid or volunteer, so that there may be continuity in the program. Referral to training courses can be made immediately after enrollment with the understanding that when the quota for a class becomes filled, volunteers may have to be placed in a second or third section of a course. In communities where there is only a central office, referral of qualified persons to jobs may be made immediately after enrollment. In communities where branch offices are necessary, referral to jobs at the time of enrollment is possible only when those jobs are to be done within the area which the branch serves. Only then is there no possibility of duplication between branches. In the case of other jobs, branches may make referrals only when the central office requests them to do so. In such large-scale placement c f volunteers as Volunteer Offices are expected to carry on, it is not practical to give every volunteer an interview in addition to the interview at the time of enrollment. Volunteers should be referred without subsequent interview to all temporary jobs—such as the collection of salvage materials—where large numbers are needed, and to other large-scale activities where the service is to be of a relatively short duration. Only those volunteers who are to fill regular long-time jobs such as nurse’s aide and case work aide—where it is of the utmost importance for the volunteer to be carefully selected, should be given an additional interview. Because of the necessity for re-interviewing in the case of certain placements, however, all volunteers should enroll at the Volunteer Office nearest to their location between 9 a. m. and 5 p. m. regardless of the time of day during which they will render their defense service. All volunteers who are given jobs by a Volunteer Office, wear the official emblem of O. C. D. and either a uniform or an arm band. (Arm bands are to be used for men volunteers except in instances where the wearing of a uniform is essential.) Volunteers enrolled in training courses wear the emblem only. Arm bands and emblems will be furnished by the O. C. D. to all communities which organize Civilian Defense Volunteer Offices. Uniforms for the various types of workers should be of the standard type approved by O. C. D. Volunteers, who are financially able, are expected to provide themselves with these uniforms. For those unable to buy their own, the Volunteer Office should make provision, using local funds for this purpose. 11 Maintains good standards of service A Volunteer Office should communicate periodically with the departments and agencies where it places volunteers. This is essential in order that the volunteer may find the most satisfactory channel of service and the agency the most satisfactory workers. In instances where the volunteer or agency is not satisfied a change should be made. It is good neither for the morale of the volunteer nor the agency to allow a person to remain as “a square peg in a round hole.” It is neither practical nor expedient in large scale placement of civilians, however, to secure individual reports on the work of each volunteer. An informal contact with each agency is all that is possible. Wherever practical, individual workers in the Volunteer Office should be assigned responsibility for keeping in touch with specific groups. Keeps the public informed The community must know of the facilities and work of the Volunteer Office, if it is to be of maximum usefulness. It is, therefore, highly important that through the press, on the air, through speakers before organizations, and through informative leaflets and bulletins, the work of the Volunteer Office and the ways in which volunteers are serving be kept constantly before the public. Publicity of this sort stimulates civilians to volunteer and agencies to develop additional ways in which volunteers may serve. There is need for a carefully worked out plan. The publicity committee does this job in cooperation with the Defense Council’s publicity committee. 12 A CIVILIAN DEFENSE VOLUNTEER OFFICE . . . Bow to organize it Before making any move to organize a Civilian Defense Volunteer Office, the interested group should find out whether the community already has a clearing house for volunteer work. Such clearing houses exist in fifty or more communities in the country at this time. They are known generally by such names as: “Central Volunteer Bureau,” “Volunteer Service Bureau,” “Volunteer Placement Bureau,” or “Volunteer Department of the Council of Social Agencies.” Many of these bureaus have been in existence for some time and have done a carefully planned and well-executed job. The volume of work which they have handled has not been large but the organization and set-up which most of them have is readily adaptable to expansion to proportions suitable for large-scale activity. Every effort should be made to interest such a group in expanding to the proportions needed in this emergency and in adopting the official name, “Civilian Defense Volunteer Office”. In many communities, a Volunteer Office may be in the process of being formed, for State Defense Councils are being urged to sponsor them. If a careful check reveals none, then the interested groups should take steps at once to get a Civilian Defense Volunteer Office under way. It is important for the group which initiates the organization of a Volunteer Office to secure the support of several elements of the community before proceeding. The following are the steps which should be taken in most communities, regardless of size: 1. Propose a Volunteer Office to the local Defense Council and offer to organize it. If no defense council exists, make this proposition to the Mayor or the County Commissioners. 2. If there is a social planning council or welfare coordinating agency, secure its cooperation. 3. Try to have the Chamber of Commerce back the idea. 4. Show health, welfare, and educational groups how they can cooperate by planning ways in which the volunteers will be used. 5. Demonstrate to civic organizations—both men’s and women’s— service clubs, women’s clubs, church groups, professional groups, and other groups from which volunteers will come, the value of a centralized service. 411073°—41-----------3 13 6. As each organization becomes interested, find out whether it could help to support the bureau. 7. Form, with the cooperation of the defense council and the social planning council, if these two bodies exist, a widely representative organizing committee and include representation from both of these groups. 8. Get the organizing committee to draft a plan for creating the Volunteer Office, including arrangements for financing if a budget will be needed. 9. When this plan is ready, call a representative meeting—representative of both those who will volunteer and departments and agencies which will use volunteers—and discuss it. 10. When the plan is accepted, get authorization for the organizing committee to select a slate for a board and set a time to meet and elect the board. 11. Hold a special meeting of the same representative group and any others whose interest has meanwhile been discovered and elect the board. 12. When a board is elected, the Volunteer Office is ready to undertake the work described in the section of this manual entitled, “A Civilian Defense Volunteer Office—What it does.” 14 Volunteer Activities in Civilian Defense The ability of this country to defend itself depends as much upon the stamina and morale of its men, women, and children as upon the caliber of the armed forces and their equipment. Therefore, it behooves each community to make sure that the services and facilities for its citizens are as adequate as the organized community services and volunteers can make them. The following list indicates the various types of services in a community that volunteers can perform. Many of the programs or agencies mentioned will not be found in all communities. However, in all types of communities there are needs for service which must be met and the list includes many programs found in any community. The list makes clear the various protection programs that will enroll volunteers. Enrolled volunteers in such programs must be trained and must be available to act in an emergency. Before an emergency comes, however, some of these volunteers may have time to perform other useful community services and in a crisis they will be more efficient volunteers in the specified protection programs if they have also had the training and discipline that accrues from holding another volunteer job. The list includes opportunities for volunteers in the established community agencies, whose services play a major part in strengthening the home front. Manuals are being prepared by the Office of Civilian Defense and other Federal agencies which will give complete information on volunteer opportunities in the various fields of social welfare related to defense: family security, child care, health, nutrition, recreation, social protection, and education. These manuals will also recommend training courses, types of apprentice training, suggestions as to where to look for proper leadership for the courses, etc. “Volunteer” is used herein to mean a person who gives service without remuneration. Some volunteers will, therefore, be equipped to give service of a professional quality while others will be untrained. The list does not mention the opportunities which can be filled solely by people with professional background, as it is obvious where they will fit in. The volunteer opportunities listed in the following sections have been suggested by the Federal agencies active in each field. The list is intended to be illustrative rather than exhaustive. 15 I. Volunteer Opportunities in Civilian Protection Programs. 1. Give air raid warden service. 2. Give messenger service. 3. Give nurse’s aide service. 4. Serve in medical corps. 5. Act as fire watcher. 6. Serve in rescue squads. 7. Serve in drivers’ corps. 8. Serve in emergency food and housing corps. 9. Serve in decontamination corps. 10. Serve in staff corps. 11. Act as auxiliary policeman. 12. Act as auxiliary fireman. 13. Serve in bomb squad. 14. Serve in demolition and clearance crew. 15. Serve in road repair crew II. Volunteer Opportunities in Programs for Unity. 1. Develop forums or “town hall meetings” discussing local, national and international topics, etc. 2. Develop prodemocracy programs, including essay contests, poster contests, speech contests. 3. Arrange for library exhibits to coincide with topics under discussion (see above); for portable book exhibits at place of meeting; for traveling book exhibits on democracy and community problems. 4. Sponsor activities which will bring people of different nationalities together—including discussion programs, pageants, etc. 5. Establish classes in English, American history and citizenship. 6. Form classes to study local government. 7. Work for improved intergroup relations. 8. Work on committees concerned with promoting and safeguarding civil liberties. 9. Work on programs for salvaging needed materials. 10. Work on campaign promoting sale of defense bonds and stamps- III. Volunteer Opportunities in Recreation and Special Services for Men in Uniform and Defense Industry Workers. 1. Assist in information centers for men in uniform and families. 2. List restaurants and lodgings with prices. 3. Prepare a guide on community facilities. 4. Make arrangements for week-end dormitory facilities. 16 5. Investigate room vacancies and maintain a room registry. 6. Mend clothes of men in uniform at camp centers. 7. Secure home town editions of papers from local editors. 8. Prepare a list of available current attractions. 9. Prepare a list of available recreation facilities. 10. Organize athletic contests; plan outings; provide increased recreation facilities in the community. 11. Prepare a magazine and book collection ror camp libraries and community centers. 12. Serve as hostesses, chaperones, dance partners, etc. 13. Assist in recreation programs in United Service Organizations buildings and similar centers. 14. Arrange a home hospitality program for men in uniform. 15. Arrange special transportation for community events. 16. Arrange for guest tickets or price reduction for community events. 17. Provide transportation facilities for defense industry workers, where none exist, to their place of employment and for men in uniform from the camps to the nearby towns. IV. Volunteer Opportunities in Consumer Programs. 1. Assist in establishing consumer information centers to advise consumers on their buying problems and to make available services of federal, state, and local agencies which can serve consumers. (HANDBOOK ON HOW TO SET UP AND OPERATE A CONSUMER INFORMATION CENTER, available upon request from the Consumer Division, Office of Price Administration and Civilian Supply, Washington, D. C.) 2. Help to organize traffic study clubs to plan the most efficient use of community transportation facilities and of individual methods of transportation. 3. Help to arrange to make available to consumers, wherever possible, through the services of a technically competent consultant, information on supplies of consumer goods. 4. Establish food consultation centers where home-makers can discuss their food problems with a trained home economist or nutritionist. 5. Promote public forums and organize study groups on food buying problems, budgeting, intelligent family shopping. 6. Promote a local market news radio service to inform consumers of best buys. 7. Check on adequacy and enforcement of sanitation ordinances in order to insure minimum standards of decent housing. 8. Publicize the services of Homes Registration Bureaus and serve as volunteer assistant in their offices to supplement the paid staff. 17 V. Volunteer Opportunities in the Health Field. A. Hospitals, public and private, general and specialized. 1. In the out-patient department. Operate an appointment system for patients. Act as guides for patients referred to other clinics or sections of the hospital. Give clerical assistance, take notes from doctors, or give messenger service to doctors, nurses, clinic supervisors etc. Transport patients. Weigh and measure patients. Assist with mothers’ clubs, teach certain aspects of child care. 2. In the wards. Give nurse’s aide service (after passing Red Cross nurse’s aide course) to assist registered nurses so that they may extend their services to more patients. Perform messenger service for patients and personal services. Escort patients to other hospital departments, such as X-ray physiotherapy, etc. Give routine information on patient’s condition in answer to telephone inquiry. Initiate and maintain recreational program. 3. At the reception desk. Issue passes to visitors. Direct or guide visitors within the hospital. Give information about visiting hours, transit routes, and such matters. 4. In the patients’ library. Inaugurate a library if none exists; catalogue books; review and distribute books. Distribute magazines and books to patients. 5. In the occupational therapy department. Collect necessary materials. Teach crafts. Assist professional therapists with simple aspects of treatment. 6. In the supply room. Make surgical dressings; fold supplies; mend linen and hospital gowns. 7. In the social service department. Make arrangements for convalescent care, appliances, etc. Give messenger service to case workers. Transport patients. Assist case workers. 18 B. Clinics of all kinds—whether operated independently under city health departments, under visiting nursing associations, tuberculosis and health associations, or other auspices. (For detailed volunteer opportunities see Hospitals—Outpatient department, reception desk, social service department, nurses’ aide service.) C. Convalescent homes, institutions for the handicapped (children and adults). Organize play services of various types; conduct story-telling hours for children; lead singing groups; arts and crafts groups; etc. Write letters. Supply transportation. Give clerical assistance and messenger service to doctors and nurses. Operate a library. Conduct recreation program. D. Tuberculosis and health associations and cancer societies. Promote immunization campaign. Assist in clinics operated by the associations (for details, see Clinics'). Transport patients and staff. Show health education movies to groups; speak before groups or on radio. E. Public health nursing programs. Give nurse’s aide service (after passing Red Cross nurse’s aide course) to assist the public health nurse. Assist with mothers’ classes. Assist in clinics. Give clerical assistance. Teach cooking to patients’ families. Give recreational work to patients, such as knitting, basketry, etc. Make surgical supplies and layettes. Give motor service. Develop a library and other services for shut-ins. Speak before groups or on radio on matters of health education. F. City or county health departments. Give nurse’s aide service (after passing Red Cross nurse’s aide course) in baby health clinics, pre-natal clinics, field nursing services. Man information centers on health facilities. Give motor service. Assist in clinics—as indicated under Hospitals. Teach first aid. Promote immunization campaigns. Promote venereal disease control, especially in defense areas. Work on education programs for better nutrition. Assistant laboratory technicians. 19 VI. Volunteer Opportunities in the Field of Nutrition» A. Jobs for nutrition aides—laymen who have taken the recognized twenty-hour nutrition course of the Red Cross or the equivalent. (For canteen service the Red Cross requires this twenty-hour course in nutrition as prerequisite to the canteen course.) 1. Prepare adequate meals for their own familes and reform their own families’ poor food habits. 2. Organize adult classes in nutrition or food preparation in cooperation with local nutrition committee. 3. Take initiative in organizing and seeking sponsorship for such programs and assist in school lunch and playground lunch service. 4. Assist professional nutritionists in conducting food clinics or food consultation service. 5. Assist in food service at day nursery. 6. Assist in preparation of exhibits and educational materials for use in local stores, clubs, restaurants, etc. 7. Organize neighborhood discussion groups to arouse interest in need for better nutrition and provide information as to how this may be obtained. 8. Stimulate interest in and help organize community gardens and canning projects. B. Jobs for service in training—laymen who wish to be of service immediately, before or during the taking of a nutrition course. While some of the services suggested do not require an intimate knowledge of nutrition, it is recommended that volunteers take some type of nutrition course for the benefit of themselves and their families as well as for the added interest and understanding that they will have for the work. 1. Assist in local publicity for nutrition programs. Keep clipping file of nutrition material. 2. Devise ways and means of providing reliable reading material on nutrition for distribution to local libraries or circulating libraries as recommended by State and local nutrition committees. Serve as librarian or custodian of such material. 3. Assist in distribution or preservation of local food surpluses. 4. Encourage and arrange for mothers with small children to attend nutrition classes. This may involve care of children and transportation to and from meetings. 5. Work with social agencies and public health organizations in securing equipment for food preparation and service for needy families. 6. Give clerical assistance to nutritionists or nutrition aides as indicated. 7. Assist in preparation and service of school lunch. 20 VII, Volunteer Opportunities in the Field of Education» A. Public schools. 1. General. Assist in testing sight. Assist in testing hearing (audiometer). Give motor service. Give clerical service. Assist in the conduct of parent-teacher programs aimed at physical preparation of the pre-school child for school life. Assist health authorities in the schools during immunization campaigns; also during outbreaks of children’s diseases. Assist school health workers in conducting the health examination of school children and the follow-up of those found in need of medical attention. Teach classes in home hygiene and care of the sick. Teach classes in first aid. Organize and conduct, when authorized by defense authorities, “collection campaigns” that may contribute to the supply of materials for defense purposes of which there is a shortage; provided that the campaign is such that it makes it advisable for the participation of school children. Conduct a clean-up campaign for school grounds and individual homes; improve school ground areas. 2. In the visiting teacher department. Aid case workers by friendly visiting and assisting with special outings for children. Tutor sick or retarded children. Take children to and from clinics or special schools. Give clerical assistance. 3. In the vocational-guidance department. Aid counselors in interviewing and following up children. Collect occupational information. Make studies of special groups of out-of-school youth. Give clerical assistance. 4. In classes for handicapped children. Assist in the conduct of classes for the crippled, the partially blind, the partially deaf, mentally deficient, tuberculous, cardiac, and other children generally found in special classes. Teach crafts. Tutor nonambulant children. Teach Braille; copy books in Braille. 5. In the school lunch department. Aid the manager or dietitian. Give clerical assistance. Assist in service. 21 6. In small schools which do not have lunchroom facilities. Help to plan menus in terms of supplies available. Discover what types of morning and evening meals the children have as a basis for planning the school lunch. Help to prepare a hot lunch. Suggest food to be brought from home to supplement the school lunch. Send home to parents copies of the school lunch menus. VIII. Volunteer Opportunities in the Field of Recreation and Informal Education, A. Public recreation departments; public school recreation centers; settlement houses; libraries; community centers; local units of national agencies such as Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Campfire Girls, Y. M. C. A., Y. W. C. A., church groups, etc. In such agencies, the volunteer jobs related to the various types of activities are relatively the same. The principal ones are: 1. On playgrounds. Lead active games, lead quiet games, tell stories, coach athletics. Act as life savers in swimming pools. 2. In clubs and classes. Act as leaders for all sorts of interest groups, such as sewing, cooking, art, music, drama, crafts, etc. Act as leaders for adult discussion groups on current topics. Teach a variety of subjects, such as current events, citizenship, art and music appreciation, etc. Arrange special activities. 3. In libraries. Organize book drives; sort and arrange books, pamphlets, clippings, and pictures. Secure and furnish a suitable reading room in areas without adequate library facilities. Act as custodian of books in areas without adequate library facilities. Give radio talks, book talks, and arrange forums to encourage reading of books related to the national-defense program and the American way of life. Transport books to outlying districts, welfare organizations, and to industrial plants. Assist librarian, give clerical assistance, arrange exhibits, lead discussion groups on books read by children. 4. In administration. Give clerical assistance, assist with publicity, keep clipping file, make statistical reports. B. Special recreation programs for children in defense areas. 1. Provide children of defense workers who live in trailers or in housing projects with opportunities for play, story telling, and dramatization under suitable conditions. 2. Provide supervised transportation to and from playgrounds and other recreation activities. 22 IX. Volunteer Opportunities in the Field of Family Security, Child Care, and Service to Single Persons. A. Protective Societies, including social protection programs in defense areas. (Same general services as Private Family and Children’s Agencies, see below.) 1. In Service Centers in defense areas where girls and women receive temporary care and social assistance while working out their individual difficulties. Help locate available buildings and furnishings. Give clerical assistance. Supervise or arrange recreation, as library, movies, games. Plan special parties. Collect magazines and books. Take patients to clinics. B. Day Nurseries—those long established and those organized in or near defense-area industrial plants. Supervise play; lead clubs; teach dancing, music, crafts, etc. Help with physical care. Tell storeis or read to children. Arrange special parties—birthday, Christmas, etc. Give clerical assistance. C. Nursery Schools. (Same general services as Day Nurseries.) D. Private Family and Children's Case-work Agencies. Make friendly visits to aged, blind, shut-ins, refugees, etc. Give motor service. Accompany children or handicapped persons to clinics. Tutor handicapped or specially gifted children. Shop for children or handicapped persons. Gather furniture or household equipment to rehabilitate families. Study food requirements in relation to budget requirements. Work out low-cost diets. Operate used-clothing shops. Verify official records—statistical, school, etc. Tabulate information on comunity resources for use of clients and staff members. Give clerical assistance. Answer telephone or operate switchboard. Gather and tabulate factual data from agency records. Act as receptionist, receiving clients, directing to right source, taking preliminary information, etc. E. Departments of Public Welfare. Because of the legal foundation of these agencies, certain responsibilities, such as establishing eligibility, determining the amount of the grant, etc., must be exclusively the responsibility of the paid staff. However, many of the volunteer services now rendered in private family and children’s 23 agencies point to possible opportunities for volunteer service in a public department. Such service would assist the paid staff and make the client’s contacts with the agency of a more helpful and beneficial nature. (Volunteer opportunities under these agencies are the same in general as those listed above under Private Family and Children’s Agencies.) F. Traveler's Aid Societies. (Same general services as private family and children’s agencies). Assist in information services in terminals and railway stations. Provide recreation for children between train connections. G. Legal Aid Societies. Give legal advice and help to clients unable to pay for such counsel. (Lawyers only qualify.) Give clerical assistance. H. Probation and Parole. Assist probation officers, parole advisers, etc. Act as personal, friendly adviser as “big brother” or “big sister.” Give clerical assistance. Take children to clinics. I. Institutions for Children. Give clerical assistance. Act as receptionist. Supervise recreation; direct dramatics; teach music, art, dancing, crafts. Arrange outside recreation, such as drives and trips to movies, museums, etc. Take patients to clinics. Assist paid staff with physical care. Tutor. Read to children and tell stories. Collect books and magazines; act as librarian. J. Maternity Homes. (Same general services as Institutions for Children.) X. Volunteer Opportunities in the Field of Housing. Make vacancy surveys and inspect vacancies in accordance with the standards established by the federal division of Defense Housing Coordination and to local Homes Registration Office. Lead recreation clubs and classes in housing projects. 24 KI. Volunteer Opportunities in Local Chapters of the American Red Cross. There are opportunities for volunteer work in all the services of a Red Cross Chapter and particularly in the eight Corps groups under Volunteer Special Services, briefly described as follows: 1. Staff Assistance Corps—serves as an organizing and recordkeeping staff whose help is available to all other services. Its members file, type, keep books, prepare reports, work on information and reception desks, translate, and organize classes for other services. 2. Production Corps—provides clothing for refugees, hospital comfort articles, and surgical dressings. Its members sew, knit, mend, and operate electric cutting machines and sewing machines. 3. Braille Corps—makes books for the blind. Its members transcribe, duplicate, and bind books in Braille, read to the blind, and teach them to read the Braille system. 4. Canteen Corps—provides meals for projects sponsored by the Red Cross, is prepared to furnish mass feeding in disasters, and supplies assistance for garden and food conservation projects. Its members attend food and nutrition classes and get practical experience in feeding large groups. 5. Motor Corps —furnishes transportation needed in connection with all Chapter services. Its members collect garments and materials, provide transportation for outings of men in Government hospitals, take patients to clinics, and drive ambulances. Training in first aid, safe driving, and motor repair is required. 6. Nurse’s Aide Corps —assists the professional nursing staff of hospitals, clinics, public health nursing organizations, schools, and industrial hygiene services. Its members work under the supervision of registered nurses. The requirements for membership in this Corps are stringent and the training course approved by the Office of Civilian Defense is mandatory. 7. Home Service Corps—assists the Chapter to discharge its obligation to active service and ex-service men and their families. Its members visit and interview families and individuals under supervision. Training in social case work practices is required of all applicants. 8. Hospital and Recreation Corps—is concerned with the maintenance of the morale of the active and ex-service men in hospitals. Under the direction of the medical officer, its members provide recreational work for the patients. They may also act as receptionists in clinics. The satisfactory completion of a prescribed course and of a probationary period is required of all who wish to join the Corps. 25 XII. Volunteer Opportunities in Food Conservation Programs. Take stock of fruit and vegetable surpluses and arrange for collection and distribution in fresh or preserved forms through school lunches, community kitchens, etc. XIII. Volunteer Opportunities in War Relief Organizations. A. Production. Knit. Sew. Make surgical dressings. Pack such material for shipping. B. Office and Clerical Work. C. Publicity, Speaking, etc. D. Messenger Service. 26 Training Courses in Civilian Defense It is impossible at this stage of the development to give a complete list of training. The following are typical of training which is underway or contemplated: 1. Health—Hospital work, occupational therapy, home nursing, physical fitness. 2. Family and Child Welfare—Case-work aide service, child welfare service. 3. Recreation—Group leadership, mass recreation. 4. General—First aid, publicity, public speaking, community needs and facilities. Some standardization of training for volunteers has been done. The following are instances: Training Agencies standardizing Auspices of training First aid Nurse’s aide Nutrition aide Office of Civilian Defense and American Red Cross. . Office of Civilian Defense and American Red Cross. _ Nutrition Division of OPA of Defense Health and Welfare Coordinator and American Red Cross. Red Cross. Red Cross. Red Cross. Training responsibilities for civilian protection in the Office of Civilian Defense are limited to the issuance of instructional data to be applied by the State and local defense organizations and to whatever guidance in setting up instructional schools may be necessary. In many subdivisions of the civilian defense set-up, a large portion of the instruction can be applied only after enrollment, since the type of instruction is essentially practical in character, and not necessarily uniform in scope as between localities. For instance: Air-raid wardens. Fire watchers. Rescue squads. Auxiliary police. Auxiliary firemen. Demolition and clearance squads. Road-repair squads. Staff corps. Decontamination squads. Bomb squads. The thoroughness of the instruction required in large cities, to contend with the intricate problems involved in congested areas and skyscraper buildings, will not be essential in the thousands of smaller communities. The test of efficiency must be applied by local conditions. Courses now worked out and of use in equipping workers for civilian protection—duties are: Nurse’s aide. First aid. Types of instruction now being developed and of use in civilian protection are: Fire fighting. Gas defense. 27 Volunteer Enrollment Card The Volunteer Enrollment Card which follows is, so far as is known, the best card for both large-scale and small-scale operations. In interviewing a volunteer, the registrar uses not only this Volunteer Enrollment Card but also a mimeographed list of “Work Classifications.” She discovers which of the types of work classified, the volunteer is able to do and on the basis of this classifies the volunteer in the column of the Volunteer Enrollment Card headed, “Work Classification.” She does this, however, only after completely interviewing the volunteer and filling out both sides of the Volunteer Enrollment Card. An easy way to file the Volunteer Enrollment Card is to use a white card for the interview and for listing the volunteer’s various work classifications. This card is then filed according to the first classification, i. e., the main skill of the volunteer. Blue cards should be used for listing any other work classifications of the volunteer, a separate card being used for each and these should be filed according to the secondary skills of the volunteer. The primary skill, Classification 1, should be listed as Classification 2 on the blue card or cards, so that quick reference can be made from the blue card to the white card. Blue cards need contain nothing else except the volunteer’s name. The Volunteer Enrollment cards should be filed in alphabetical order according to work classifications, e. g., typists would be filed under the letter “T” and nurse’s aids under the letter “N.” The master file showing the name, address, telephone number, and primary work classification of each volunteer is the means of locating in the Volunteer Enrollment File the cards of any particular person when all that is known about him or her is the name. Work Opportunity Card The Work Opportunity Card which follows is designed for recording information about the types of jobs which volunteers can do. One card should be filled out on each type of job. The cards should be filed in alphabetical order by the name of the agency. 28 VOLUNTEER ENROLLMENT CARD_____________ENROLLING OFFICE date male female LAST NAME (please print) FIRST MIDDLE WORK CLASSIFICATIONS TRAINING DESIRED HOME ADDRESS PHONE 1 CHANGE ADDRESS PHONE 2 BUSINESS ADDRESS PHONE 3 CHANGE ADDRESS PHONE 4 MARITAL STATUS: MARRIED, SINGLE, WIDOWED, DIVORCED NUMBER OF CHILDREN UNDER 6 YEARS IN GRADE OR HIGH SCHOOL HEIGHT WEIGHT TIME AVAILABLE S M AGE PLACE OF BIRTH IF FOREIGN COUNTRY STATE WHETHER NATURALIZED T w T VISION HEARING TELEPHONE VOICE PHYSICAL FITNESS FOR CHOSEN WORK F s TIME NOT AVAILABLE SKILLS, SPECIAL INTEREST, OR HOBBIES (OVER) LANGUAGES ENGLISH (SPECIFY) SRW SRW SRW PASSENGER CAR AVAILABLE LICENSED DRIVER ynrm_______Civilian Defense Volunteer, Office of-----------. « REMARKS SUPERVISOR ADDRESS NEXT I SUPERVISOR - ADDRESS NEXT LAST SUPERVISOR ADDRESS I LAST PLACE OF WORK WORK HISTORY RECORD VOLUNTEER TRAINING COURSES COMPLETED CD o Z X m