The Columbiana County Red Cross has a new address. The chapter closed its East Liverpool and Salem branches to move operations into a new building, just north of Lisbon, on State Route 45.
"We've reduced our overhead by doing so, and we hope to provide better services to the whole county by doing this", says Dianne Bates, Director of the Columbiana County Red Cross.
"More accessible through a center location in the county to serve all 18 townships, and it cuts down our response time very quickly", adds Daniel Bing, Vice Chairman of the Columbiana County Red Cross Board.
Bing, who is also a Columbiana County Commissioner, says the board has been trying to streamline services, and cut costs for the past two years.
"We want to be good stewards of the donated dollar, Red Cross is funded by donations, we are a government agency, but we receive no government funding whatsoever", says Bates.
The Pottery Area Chapter of the Red Cross in East Liverpool is now empty, Kent State University bought the building, but they'll still share the space with the Red Cross when they need it.
"So we can provide classroom space, education, and a little bit of storage down there too, so it's been a very nice marriage between the two of us", says Bing.
And even though they're still unpacking and finalizing the move, Bates says they were ready to respond to the storms that rolled through Wednesday night.
"We had a team on stand-by, should there have been a tornado or floods and residents need assistance, we were ready to go."
The more central location has also helped to boost volunteer and fundraising levels. Bates says,
"Because we're serving all of Columbiana County, if you need us, you call us 24-7, we'll be there."
