Donate Life

Ambassador

Guidelines & Policies

WRTC’S Mission Statement

To recover organs and tissues by preserving every donation option, excelling in recovery and placement, and

providing care for donors and their families.

Vision Statement

Healing communities through organ and tissue donation.

Core Values

Compassion: To care for donor families and for those awaiting transplantation

Diversity: To build community through multicultural partnerships

Leadership: To demonstrate excellence in all areas of our work

Honor: To respect each other and the donation wishes of patients and their families

Stewardship: To protect the precious resources entrusted to us.

Trust: To earn, sustain and preserve public and professional confidence in all we do.

Our personal thanks...

Thank you for volunteering your valuable time and talent to assist Washing-ton Regional Transplant Community (WRTC) in promoting organ and tissue donation awareness in our community through its Donate Life Ambassador program. We could not do this without you. We have prepared these guide-lines to explain what it means to be a Donate Life Ambassador.

Overview WRTC is responsible to the public for delivering high quality service and for demonstrating integrity and high ethical standards. As a Donate Life Ambas-sador, please be mindful of the following guidelines:

Personal Conduct Consideration for, and courtesy to, others are important to the public, WRTC staff and your fellow volunteers. WRTC staff is required to comply with an employee Code of Conduct and WRTC policies and procedures. Your conduct, too, can have a significant impact on WRTC’s reputation and on the delivery of the services we provide. Accordingly we request that volunteers follow certain expectations that demonstrate WRTC’s Mission and Core Values (see last page). It is the responsibility of every volunteer to assist in maintaining a safe environment while engaged in WRTC volunteer activities.

Confidentiality In the course of your volunteer activities, you may learn information that is con-fidential— about other volunteers, about WRTC staff, about other organizations with which WRTC works and their staff, and about organ and tissue donors and recipients. In some instances, WRTC has a legal obligation to treat this infor-mation as confidential and to protect it from unauthorized disclosure. In some instances, WRTC policy requires that such information be protected from disclo-sure as a matter of good operating procedure and as a matter of courtesy and respect for others. You will receive more detailed guidance on WRTC’s confiden-tiality obligations. We request that you pay strict attention to this aspect of your participation in WRTC volunteer activities. Respect for confidentiality is critical to WRTC’s mission.

If any third person asks you for information that you know is, or think may be, confidential, you should direct that person to the Director of Community Affairs, Lesley Compagnone for a response. If you have any questions or concerns about the confidentiality of particular information, you should seek guidance from Les-ley Compagnone. We request that you act on her advice.

conference room or work area.

• When leaving the premises, please sign out at the front desk. Be sure to return your visitor’s badge to the Community Education Specialist or front desk before exiting the office.

• For meetings or events that take place after 6PM. The door from the park-ing garage to the elevator and stairs is locked. Please contact your WRTC representative to be let in. Often times, a sign will be placed on the door with a number of who to call so they may come escort you to the 7th floor. You will need a WRTC staff member to use their badge to access the 7th floor after 6PM.

If you need assistance in bringing materials or supplies to or from your car,

please let a Community Education Specialist know you need help when you arrive.

Note that parking at other locations for WRTC events, meetings, and local health fairs may or may not be free.

Expenses:

There may be costs associated with some WRTC events, such as parking, metro, mileage, etc. WRTC does not routinely reimburse for volunteer ex-penses. Current U.S. Tax Code (see Publication 526 for year 2008) says some volunteer expenses (to 501(c)(3) organizations) can be deducted on an item-ized federal tax return. Keep a detailed record of mileage and receipts, and prior to each tax year’s filing, be sure to get the most current tax information prior to filing your return. WRTC makes every effort to match volunteers with appropriate events, including proximity to home or work. If you are assigned to an event, and you believe the expenses associated with your attendance are extraordinary, please contact WRTC’s Community Education Specialist to notify us of your concern.

Volunteering or training at WRTC Office

Some volunteer tasks and training meetings take place at the WRTC office. Please become familiar with the procedures for entering the parking lot and main entrance to the building.

• When entering the parking deck, use the spaces marked “Visitor. You will find these at the top row of each parking deck level. There are 5 parking deck levels, each having a line of visitor parking spaces at the top. ” Handi-capped accessible parking spaces are available right next to the visitor spaces, located at the top of each parking deck level. Once you park, please look to your left and you will see a door to enter the building. Please take the elevator or stairs to the lobby level of the building. Walk straight across the atrium and take the lobby elevators to the 7th floor. Upon exiting the elevators on the 7th floor, you will see a pair of glass doors. The doors are kept locked. Please knock or ring the doorbell to request access and identi-fy yourself to front desk staff as a volunteer. Volunteers visiting to work for a few hours in the office should also sign in at the front desk (we need to know who is in the office if a fire alarm occurs). This is not necessary if you are attending a training session after regular business hours.

• The front desk staff will give you a visitor’s badge. For security and safety purposes, please wear it during your visit. A Community Education Special-ist or a WRTC staff member will escort you to the designated volunteer

Communication Open communication is necessary for the effective operation of an organiza-tion. Recognizing this, WRTC staff will try to keep active volunteers informed of important initiatives and encourage volunteers to voice their opinions and concerns. Training seminars, notes on the WRTC website, and periodic news-letters keep volunteers informed about items of general interest and specific information regarding various projects and activities. Volunteers, in turn, are encouraged to participate actively in meetings and in discussions with fellow volunteers and WRTC staff members. It is also requested that volunteers use discretion in all public and private comments (refer to prior section).

Emergency In case of a personal or weather emergency, please contact the designated WRTC staff member/event coordinator at 703-641-0100 (9:00am – 5:00pm). This number is also answered after hours by an answering service that can contact the staff member on your behalf. If the designated staff member has given you their personal cell phone number, please respect their privacy and call only during business hours, or after hours, only if he/she is the person responsible for a specific event.

Dress Code We ask that WRTC’s Donate Life Ambassadors use their discretion in repre-senting WRTC by wearing appropriate attire for the activity in which they are involved. Business casual attire is encouraged for speaking engagements, health fairs, and other functions. Clean, un-torn jeans or shorts are accepta-ble for training sessions and during outdoor or summer events. All other cas-ual wear (e.g. sweat clothes, exercise or bike attire) is not suitable for public Ambassador work, unless you are a participant in a sporting event.

Harassment It is WRTC’s policy that all of our employees, volunteers, interns, contractors and others who work with us have a right to work in an environment free from any type of unlawful discrimination, including harassment by employees, vendors and volun-teers. WRTC will not tolerate any form of harassment either from or to a volunteer by another volunteer or employee, including but not limited to: threatening, offen-sive or intimidating behavior or remarks; demands for sexual favors, or behaviors offensive to someone’s sex, sexual orientation, age, race, color, national origin, reli-gion or disability.

Reporting Procedures Related to Harassment A volunteer who believes he or she has been subjected to harassment by a WRTC employee or volunteer must promptly inform Lesley Compagnone, Director of Community Affairs at 703-641-0100. WRTC will investigate all such complaints and take appropriate corrective action. All investigations of harassment complaints will be conducted thoroughly, promptly and in a manner designed to protect, to the greatest extent possible, the confidential-ity of all parties involved. WRTC will not permit participation in the Donate Life Ambassador program by any volunteer who it is determined engaged in harassment in violation of these guidelines. If you have any questions re-garding this guideline, you should address them to Lesley at 703-641-0100 or LesleyC@wrtc.org.

A volunteer who believes he or she has been subjected to harassment by a person other than a WRTC employee or volunteer (i.e. representative of an-other organization at an event) should promptly inform Lesley at 703-641-0100. WRTC will investigate all such complaints and may file a formal com-plaint with that representative’s organization.

Alcohol and Drug-Free Policy Participation It is WRTC’s policy to promote a drug-free environment for the safety and well-being of its volunteers and employees. WRTC prohibits the unlawful manufacture, distribution, or possession of a controlled substance or alcohol on WRTC premises, or at WRTC events by staff. We request that our volun-teers follow this example.

Age Limit

Anyone can volunteer to become a Donate Life Ambassador. Anyone who is under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian to all training and volunteer events.

Activity All Donate Life Ambassadors are asked to do two things:

• Participate in 2 or more events a year, and

• Be on time and present at the agreed upon events.

While Ambassadors may decide at any time to discontinue their involvement with WRTC, the success of our outreach program requires that an active vol-unteer fulfill commitments to the organization. If you cannot meet these minimum commitments, you will be put on a list of INACTIVE volunteers.

Training and Presentation Content All of WRTC’s Donate Life Ambassadors are required to attend one training session (held bi-annually) prior to making public presentations as a WRTC representative. This seminar is open to anyone who is interested in pro-moting community awareness via community presentations and events on behalf of WRTC. WRTC Community Education Specialists can be available to support and/or observe an Ambassador’s first presentation. Volunteers who wish to use a PowerPoint (or other presentation software) to supplement their presentations shall submit those presentations to WRTC for approval. Edits to the presentation content may be made if information is incorrect or deemed too graphic or sensitive for the general public. You are also prohibit-ed from selling products or services while acting as a Donate Life Ambassa-dor on behalf of WRTC at any event.

Volunteer Dissatisfaction

Should any volunteer experience a problem with either WRTC staff or a vol-unteer with whom she/he is working, the volunteer should contact Lesley at 703– 641-0100 or LesleyC@wrtc.org to discuss the problem. You may also in turn be requested to put the concerns in writing. If needed, a meeting will be arranged between the volunteer, the specified staff member and Lesley Compagnone in order to address the situation. Termination of Participation

If you… • Disregard any portion of these Ambassador Guidelines; • Do not follow the rules of confidentiality; or • Engage in dishonesty, harassment or any illegal activity (e.g. assault,

theft, abuse)…

WRTC will refuse to accept your further participation in the Donate Life Am-bassador program.

Parking

Free parking at the main WRTC office is available to all volunteers. WRTC specifically disclaims responsibility for any damage that may occur to your vehicle, or loss of personal belongings, while in the designated parking areas.