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LIBERTY -- The American Red Cross of Greater Akron and the Mahoning Valley will be moving its operations to a new location for the new year after having been located off Belmont Avenue for several years.
Rachel Telegdy, executive director of the chapter, said the headquarters will move from Liberty to a new site at 25 N. Canfield Niles Road, Suite 140, in Austintown on Jan. 4.
She said the move will not the change the area it serves nor will it affect local services or the ability to respond to needs.
"There will be no interruption of services. We will be operating out of the Belmont Avenue location through Jan. 4. We will continue to provide services on the day we are moving. There is no time for a day off. When there is a fire or any type of emergency, we are there helping," she said.
Telegdy said the lease at the current site ends at the end of the month and it was decided to go to a new location.
She said with its philosophy of cover, distance and clean (CDC) the staff will continue the same services and social distancing guidelines at the new location.
"We look forward to things being back to normal sometime next year, whatever that new normal will be," Telegdy said.
She said the organization regularly evaluates operations to determine how best to use its resources to respond to the humanitarian needs of the community. Teledgy said the new office is centrally located and will accommodate the agency's needs.
"It will be convenient for our volunteers," she said.
Plans are being made for a virtual open house to introduce the community to the new Mahoning Valley office location shortly after the move in January.
Red Cross services include responding to disasters like house fires and flooding, collecting lifesaving blood and plasma, teaching lifesaving skills like first aid and CPR / AED, and providing service to members of the military, veterans and their families.
Last spring as part of a national territorial realignment by the American Red Cross, the local Lake to River Chapter in Liberty became the American Red Cross of Greater Akron and the Mahoning Valley.
Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties, as well as Medina, Portage and Summit, now are included under the Greater Akron and Mahoning Valley Region with Telegdy the new chapter executive director.
Officials said the structural adjustment was to better serve the ARC critical mission and represent the local communities.
Jim McIntyre, communications and marketing manager for the ARC, said the American Red Cross of Greater Akron and the Mahoning Valley will continue to be headquartered in Cleveland under the Northern Ohio Region.
With the new territorial realignment structure, the Red Cross transitioned from 263 to 235 chapters and from 58 to 50 regions nationally. The new Northern Ohio Region will expand from 22 counties to 31 counties and will represent more than 5.3 million residents.
The changes also realigned blood services and humanitarian services to benefit the Red Cross.
Visit www.redcross.org for information on services provided by the Red Cross. To make an appointment to donate blood call 800-Red Cross or use the Red Cross blood donor app.
bcoupland@tribtoday.com