The Greater Edisto Chapter of the American Red Cross is a traditional beacon of help and hope during a disaster, but the organization is now looking for its own helping hand.

A tree-damaged roof spawned the growth of mold, which forced the organization to move out of its aging building on Louis Street in July. Shortly afterward, a damaged light fixture caught fire and impacted the area immediately around the appliance.

The organization is now working to have its building repaired. Chapter officials say they are weathering the financial storm, but the need for services continues amid the chapter’s own challenges.

“Obviously, there are some financial difficulties, but right now we’re not doing terrible. We need to raise a significant amount of money because of all the disasters we’ve had. Our cash flow is not good right now,” said David Andrews, board chairman for the Greater Edisto Chapter, which serves Orangeburg, Barnwell and Allendale counties.

He said the national office has had to take out loans to be able to service disaster victims, including those following the Midwest floods and Gulf hurricanes.

“It’s all the chapters combined who raised the money, and we’re trying to raise money to replenish those funds and pay off those loans. Our quantity of cash and resources did go down this year, but the chapter itself has not had to take out any loans,” Andrews said.

Andrews said the chapter would not have to launch a capital campaign to keep afloat if building repair plans go smoothly. He said Cindy Smith, executive director of the Greater Edisto Chapter, is working on that plan.

“The building is very old and hasn’t been truly remodeled in decades. It needs help in general,” Andrews said. The chapter is now temporarily working out of an office at 1255 Boulevard.

Smith said the organization has paid its $2,500 insurance deductible and will have a contractor begin work on the damaged building.

“Our biggest concern was trying to get an adequate estimate. The insurance company is requesting that the contractor meet with our board chairman in the next couple of days to hammer out any questions we have and get the work started,” she said.

“We are in serious need of funding. Even though we’ve got insurance, we’re just living out of boxes and in a temporary place. There are additional expenses with that and just difficult challenges through the day when you’re living out of a box,” said Smith, noting the organization has also had to trim its annual $300,000 budget estimate.

“We’ve had to lower our budget to $242,00, but we do need $300,000 to function even at half staff. We’re held accountable now. If we don’t raise what we say our budget is, the national office can look at taking away our charter. So we’ve lowered the estimate to something we pray we can keep. But we’re really working hard to meet that $300,000 number,” Smith said.

She said the local chapter will not discontinue needed services, and already has six people in Texas assisting families who lost everything in Hurricane Ike.

“I really feel that the community wants a local Red Cross presence, but it’s going to take the community to make sure we stay here. Right now, we’re just not raising enough money. Nonetheless, we’re going to keep moving forward and responding. We’re looking toward the future, but just taking it one day at a time. We do ask that the community support the National Disaster Relief Fund, but we also want them to remember that money doesn’t come here to the chapter,” she said. “We still need their support on a local level.”

Board member Cal Bruner said the chapter, however, is not in danger of closing.

“We just need the continued public support from individuals, industries and corporations. I have not heard anything about folding, but it’s like anything else. When you have a fire, that costs the chapter money to serve ... a disaster. Those are funds that really need to be brought back in. The money is needed, and the services are increasing pretty much daily,” Bruner said.

“It’s not a situation where you can stop serving the community. We just try to do our best. There are a lot of people out there that do contribute, and we’re thankful for that. The local chapter is always here to support Orangeburg in times of need, and we really need Orangeubrg to support us in our time of need with financial contributions down as they have probably been nationally for the last several years,” Bruner said. “It’s an organization that Orangeburg definitely needs.”

Andrews said the chapter is going to be starting up its “Toys for Tots” campaign in October, hoping to make Christmas brighter for needy young children. He said the chapter is encouraging the community to donate as much as they can to that and other chapter initiatives.

“We always want to be able to serve people better. We’d love to be able to handle larger disasters without having to call in other chapters for help. We need both funding for equipment as well as the volunteers to handle it,” Andrews said.

n T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5534. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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