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Century of Service || Mahoning Red Cross remains at the ready
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
alcorn@vindy.com
BOARDMAN
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W. Russell Preston, executive director, Mahoning County Chapter of American Red Cross, says the local chapter remains active in helping people recover from disasters near and far. The chapter is celebrating its centennial this year. In the background is a vintage poster at the chapter’s Boardman headquarters.
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The Red Cross also is involved in the collection and processing of blood products under its Northern Ohio Blood Services Region located in Cleveland. Mary Bee of Braceville, who draws blood, explains the process to Jeff Grope, a sophomore at Lowellville High School, who was donating for the first time at a recent blood drive at the school.
The American Red Cross is celebrating 100 years in Mahoning County this year and still going strong.
“We’ve lasted a century because the Red Cross provides the services the community needs and wants,” said W. Russell Preston, executive officer and chief executive director of the Mahoning Chapter.
Also key to the chapter’s longevity is support from community members who volunteer their time and treasure, said Lou Joseph, in his first year as chairman of the board of directors.
There is no way the Red Cross could offer all these services and educate and prepare people to respond to emergencies without its corps of 200 volunteers, said Joseph, vice president of property and purchasing at Home Savings and Loan Co.
The local chapter has just six paid staff members, said Preston, with a budget of about $500,000 in 2009. Eighty cents of every $1 received goes to programs, he said.
The Red Cross receives no government funding. All the local chapter’s money comes from the area, with the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley being the single-largest donor, Joseph said.
The Red Cross has two basic divisions: disaster and community services, handled by the local chapter; and collection and processing of blood products under the direction of Red Cross’ Northern Ohio Blood Services Region located in Cleveland.
The Red Cross Mahoning Chapter was founded in 1910 at the urging of Mabel T. Boardman, granddaughter of Boardman Township founder, Elijah Boardman.
According to “Red Cross In The Steel Valley: A History Of Mahoning Chapter,” a booklet created for the 50th anniversary of the Mahoning Chapter, Mabel visited Youngstown in 1910 for the purpose of getting a chapter organized. An organizational meeting was May 17, 1910, at which Dr. Ida Clark was elected chairwoman, and the chapter received its charter Aug. 6, 1910.
The Red Cross was founded to help people in times of disasters, such as floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and during wars, Preston said.
Locally, he said specially trained all-volunteer Disaster Action Teams respond to some 100 local disasters each year, mostly to provide temporary food, clothing and shelter, and referrals to other agencies, for people forced out of their homes by fires.
Volunteers also work large disasters, such as the tornado that struck the Trumbull County and western Pennsylvania area in 1985, and local Red Cross DATs are ready to respond to national and international disasters should they be called, Preston said.
The Mahoning Chapter’s jurisdiction is all of Mahoning County and Girard, Hubbard and Liberty in Trumbull County.
Volunteers do everything from training themselves and others to respond to disasters to stuffing envelopes, Preston added.
The Military Aid Program is another important Red Cross function. The program helps military personnel and their families during personal emergencies such as a death, serious illness or financial crisis.
Volunteers act as intermediaries between military personnel and their units by validating their requests and helping them get home, said George Brainard, a longtime volunteer and Youngstown Police Department retiree.
Brainard said he volunteers for the Red Cross for the same basic reason he went into police work.
“I felt there was a need for someone to be an advocate for his neighbor. I get satisfaction from helping people,” he said.
The Mahoning Chapter conducts some 250 classes a year at the Red Cross office at 8392 Tod Ave. in Boardman and out in the community, taught by certified trained volunteers.
There are between 3,000 and 4,000 people trained each year in a variety of skills such as first aid, CPR, baby sitting, water safety and instructor classes, said Gail Froomkin, director of public relations and fundraising.
If someone is looking to volunteer for an organization that has helped the community for 100 years and continues to touch a lot of people, the Red Cross is for them, Joseph added.
Aug. 6, 1910: Received its charter. The first chairman was Dr. Ida Clark.
March, 1917: During World War I, raised $50,000 in less than a week to create and equip a field hospital that was set up in France.
1918-1919: Set up emergency hospitals here to take care of flu patients; Motor Corps delivered food and medicines to homes of flu victims.
1920: Moved its headquarters from the Mahoning County Courthouse to 207 W. Federal St., Youngstown.
1924: Moved to the fourth floor of the Stambaugh Building, Youngstown.
1930s: During the Great Depression, volunteer women sewed daily making clothing for area families.
1939: Returned to a war mode with the advent of World War II; collected clothing and blankets to be sent to Europe.
1941: Established the volunteer Nurses Aid Service to train nurses aides for local hospitals to fill in for nurses who enlisted in the Armed Forces.
1942: Organized blood program to provide to provide plasma for military personnel.
September 1943: Moved to the fifth floor of the Ohio Edison Building at Boardman and Champion Streets, and the Ohio Edison Annex at 117 South Champion, which became the Chapter House.
1945: Downsized after WWII, closed the Champion Street facility and consolidated into the Ohio Edison Building.
1948: Home Service Department helped 7,000 veterans and 387 next-of-kin file claims for the Ohio Bonus.
1948: Established Gray Ladies to provide help at the Mahoning County Tuberculosis Sanatorium.
1950: Returned to war mode as the Korean War began; purchased property at 266 West Wood St. for a chapter house; moved in on Dec. 7, 1951.
1959: Smith Township, Beloit and Sebring left the Mahoning Chapter and joined the Alliance Chapter.
1960: Hubbard and Hubbard township rejoined the Mahoning Chapter.
1992: Moved to 8392 Tod Ave. off McClurg Road, Boardman.
The American Red Cross Mahoning Chapter is seeking volunteers to help compile the chapter’s history over the last 50 years. If interested, contact Gail Froomkin, director of public relations and fundraising, at (330) 726-6063.