About Us

Founded by an American Red Cross Youth Councilmember, the goal of the USC chapter of the Red Cross was to provide essential training and services to the student population. It began with basic blood drives and CPR trainings, but soon become the first chapter to start the innovative International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Academy program. This program trained students in concepts of IHL and then helped them go into the community and teach what they had learned to local middle school students. This chapter has always been dedicated to exposing students across disciplines to various aspects of the Red Cross' activities and how they can involve themselves in them. As such, we have consistently provided training in HIV/AIDS counseling, Disaster Relief, CPR, and First Aid techniques.

Today, the American Red Cross is the largest humanitarian relief organization in the United States, with the most widely-recognized symbol in the world. Founded by 25 local citizens in 1916, the American Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles provides humanitarian relief services in 36 Los Angeles County cities, including the city of Los Angeles, and in some unincorporated areas. We serve a population of approximately six million people, who are among the most culturally and ethnically diverse in the country.

The mission of the American Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles is to improve the quality of human life, to enhance self-reliance and concern for others, and to help people avoid, prepare for, and cope with emergencies. It does this through services that are governed and directed by volunteers and are consistent with the organization’s congressional charter and the principles of the international Red Cross.