Economic Woes Hitting Red Cross Hard

Martha Perez, her son 20-month old son Emmanuel Matias and friend Mayra Perez, right, walk back to their home after receiving hot meals from the Red Cross in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike in Baytown, Texas, in this Sept. 16, 2008 file photo. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

The perfect economic storm Georgia’s going through has battered emergency relief services like the American Red Cross. The Albany branch says they almost went under.

Red Cross officials say donations in southwest Georgia have dropped dramatically the last three months and they were on the verge of suspending operations.

Mari Wright runs the Albany Red Cross office:

”Many of our regular contributors, that would, say, donate a hundred dollars, are now giving us $25 dollars. People that were giving us $25 dollars or less… can’t give us anything. so we are probably at 85 – maybe 90% down, and that’s a considerable amount. It truly is.”

Wright says, however, that the United Way, local businesses and individuals have brought in enough donations in recent days to keep their aid services afloat.

Conditions in more urban Red Cross offices are less dire, however.

Officials in Columbus, Augusta, and Valdosta cite a larger donor base, and financial assistance from the national office to help them keep their doors open.

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Second Red Cross Shelter Opened for Victims of Hurricane Gustav

A second Red Cross shelter was opened at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lilburn on Tuesday for victims of Hurricane Gustav, after a shelter in Lawrenceville had reached capacity. A spokesman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency said, about 800 people who evacuated from Gustav are staying in shelters across the state of Georgia.

Louisiana residents in GA. weighing when to return

About five hundred of the evacuees from Hurricane Gustav are waiting out the hurricane in Georgia. Some three hundred of them are being hosted at Villa Rica, not far from the Alabama state line.

Red Cross and local volunteers here are providing cots, hot meals and showers for the displaced families.

The exhausted evacuees, many of with them children and elderly family members, are taking shelter in a gym and meeting rooms at a local recreation center.

One of them is Kenner, Louisiana, resident Nolan Eugene, who arrived in a convoy with friends:

"Everybody runnin' from that hurricane, but it done now passed over now, and I'm ready to get back home (laughs). We could leave out tonight, instead of spending another night here – I don't know… six carloads of us got to make a decision."

Villa Rica is one of five shelters the Red Cross has opened statewide including Columbus, La Grange, Lawrenceville and Tift County.

Click here for more GPB News coverage or Hurricane Gustav.

Evacuees waiting out Gustav in Ga.

About five hundred of the evacuees from Hurricane Gustav have taken refuge in Georgia. Some three hundred of them are being hosted at Villa Rica, west of Atlanta.

Many of the evacuees arrived at the center, not far from the Alabama state line, in convoys after an all-night drive.

Lisa Matheson of the Red Cross says they’re sheltering them in a gym at a local recreation center:

“This is where we have approximately 250 cots set up to take in the evacuees. We were very fortunate in this shelter, that we had several ancillary rooms where we could take the overflow to accommodate the nearly 300 people who are here.”

The evacuees are being given three meals a day, recreation facilities and medical assistance is they need it.

Villa Rica is one of six shelters the Red Cross has opened statewide, including Columbus, Dalton, La Grange, Lawrenceville and Tift County.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of Hurricane Gustav, and other severe weather.

Fort Benning, Columbus ready for Gustav's brunt

Fort Benning is mobilizing to support evacuation and medical efforts for storm-hit areas.

The Department of Defense has placed the infantry training base, along with five others in the southeas Federal Emergency Management Agency logistics staging areas for supplies and equipment.

Nearby, the Columbus branch of the American Red Cross says they have opened an emergency center for evacuees fleeing areas expecting to be hit by Hurricane Gustav sometime Monday.

The center is located at the Calvary Christian School on 7556 Old Moon Road.

Across the Chattahoochee River in Alabama, Russell County is also preparing, and has designated Chattahoochee Valley Community College in Phenix City as an emergency evacuation center.

Click here for more GPB News coverage on Hurricane Gustav.

Red Cross begins Memorial Day blood drive

The Columbus branch of the American Red Cross is holding a blood drive at several locations over the Memorial Day weekend, in honor of US troops:

• The American Red Cross Blood Donor Center, 7490 Veterans Parkway

• Peachtree Mall

• The Kmart department store, 2500 Airport Thruway
  
  The Red Cross is offering blood donors tote-bags, t-shirts and and a chance to win a trip to Disney World.
  
  For more information, or to schedule an appointment, click here.