LAWRENCE COUNTY Red Cross merger to improve services

John Stubbs was named the interim director of the Lawrence County chapter.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Officials at the national office of the American Red Cross are considering a merger of the Lawrence and Beaver county chapters.
Resolutions from both chapters, asking for the merger, were sent to the American Red Cross national board of governors last month, said Jonathan Whitaker, board chairman of the Lawrence County chapter.
"Visibly, to the residents, nothing will change. In fact, it may improve the overall provision of services to the community. It is back office stuff that will change," Whitaker said.
Whitaker said there will be no changes in staff -- there are three employees in each chapter -- and locations in New Castle and Beaver will remain. The differences will be in combining administrative functions such as payroll, financial audits, printing and answering service expenses, he said. There will likely be just one director for both offices, he added.
Beaver and Lawrence officials announced late last year that they had entered into merger talks at the urging of the national American Red Cross.
Phil Zepeda, spokesman for the Red Cross national headquarters, said the American Red Cross has been encouraging chapters to merge over the last several years.
Whitaker said he is unsure how long it will take national Red Cross officials to act on the merger resolution.
"The merger could happen very quickly, but it could take months to truly merge the functions," he said.
Once approved, the two offices will become one chapter with one board of directors. Both boards now have a total of 65 members, Whitaker said that number will likely be reduced once the merger is complete.
Interim director
John Stubbs, executive director of the Beaver Chapter, took over duties as interim executive director in Lawrence County last week, Whitaker said. He replaces Tony DiCaprio, who left the organization earlier this year.Stubbs is spending two days each week at the New Castle office on Mercer Street. He said he expects a seamless transition when the two chapters formally merge.
"It's going to provide resources to both areas. We want to provide the best services we know how to do," Stubbs said.