By By Adrienne McKenzie
The Red Cross has relocated from the Atmore Advance warehouse into Atmore's Southwest Alabama Mental Health building.
Keith Dingman, the director of the West Escambia County Service Delivery Unit, which is charter under Mobile's Gulf Coast Chapter of the Red Cross, said that this move was for "client comfort" more than anything else.
"The warehouse just did not have air or heat," Dingman said. "We are trying to make our clients more comfortable."
Southwest Mental Health donated the new Red Cross office, and Richard Maxwell availed long-term storage facilities for the Red Cross.
Dingman said that it is vital for people to understand that the Red Cross is not just about blood banks and hurricane shelters. For people to recognize that fact, the Red Cross needed a substantial infrastructure, Dingman said.
"People do not know that the Red Cross is not just about disaster services and blood banks," he said. "In this area the greatest need is fire response. We meet the immediate needs of families – shelter, clothing, food, etc."
Dingman said that locally Project SHARE just took place. Project SHARE stands for "Service to Help Alabamians with Relief on Energy." This program is administered by the American Red Cross and is an assistance program for low-income individuals who are 62 years or older, or disabled individuals.
"We were able to meet an immediate need of 72 residents," Dingman said. "This program runs twice a year. We've gone through the initial allotment of funding but we have approached Birmingham for assistance."
Dingman said that he would like to personally thank the mayor because "he literally found this building for us."
Dingman also said that it is important for the people in the area to realize that the Red Cross is a non-profit organization and is based on donations.
He said that any donations can be sent to:
Red Cross, P.O. Box 343, Atmore, AL 36504
He wanted the physical address of the new Red Cross location to be known also as 309 East Ridgely Street.
For more information on the Red Cross, please call 368-3643.