LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County's Red Cross is now a partner with two other counties' chapters, which officials say is drawing on synergy between the groups to accomplish the mission of assisting those in need.

Lake County's Red Cross chapter formally merged with the Red Cross of Sonoma and Mendocino counties last summer, according to Ellen Maremont Silver, the Sonoma Red Cross' director of marketing and communications.

For the five years before that, Lake County had been combined with the Yolo Red Cross after the local independent chapter was closed. Yolo has since been merged into the Capital Region Chapter, officials said.

Tim Miller, chief executive officer of the Red Cross Chapter of Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake Counties, said they are excited to team up.

“The Red Cross nationally had been reorganizing,” said Miller, noting that the combination of the Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake County chapters made sense.

The three-county chapter has its main office in Santa Rosa, with offices in Ukiah and one in Lakeport, at the Lakeport Senior Center, 527 Konocti Ave.

Locally, the Red Cross reported that its primary activities include disaster response, cardiopulmonary resuscitation classes and service to the Armed Forces.

There's also its ongoing mission of raising funds for areas hit by natural disasters, including Haiti and Japan.

A month after the devastating 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, the American Red Cross reported that its donations for that disasters had reached $103 million

Just in the Lake, Sonoma and Mendocino area, Silver estimates the total will be around $137,000; volunteers are currently counting the donations. That amount doesn't include donations made directly to the American Red Cross or Japanese Red Cross, officials said.

On Friday, Plank picked up a donation from East Lake Elementary School, which raised an estimated $600 in a penny drive the children held for Japan, as Lake County News has reported.

Silver said the vast amount of work done for the Red Cross is accomplished by volunteers.

Miller said the three-county area has about 650 volunteers, most of them prepared to offer disaster services, but some also acting as administrative volunteers. They work both in the Red Cross' office and their homes.

One of Lake County's well-known Red Cross volunteers is Pam Plank, who in 2001 went to New York City to assist in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. She's often on the scene of local incidents, notably leading the effort to set up a shelter in Clearlake Oaks when the 2008 Walker Fire broke out.

Plank helps oversee Lake County's Red Cross volunteers.

“I have a cadre of about 65 people,” she said, with about 10 of those being volunteers who can be called on at any time.

While in the past Red Cross volunteers were called out in major disasters, a new change is in effect as of this year, with more regular trainings and gatherings taking place, Plank said.

Plank said she plans to hold disaster planning meetings for current and prospective disaster volunteers the third Monday of every month so volunteers can be ready for any eventuality. The meetings are held at the Lakeport Senior Center, 527 Konocti Ave.

Silver said Red Cross does many “table drills” with volunteers. Essentially, those are planning exercises to go through how a disaster might be approached.

“They are amazingly effective,” Silver said, noting that it's amazing how the “heart gets pumping” when talking about how to react in such situations. “These are not insignificant practices.”

Miller said that, in addition to the organization's mission of preparation and response, it also offers critical support to families of members of the armed forces.

The Red Cross assists military families by offering referrals to key social services, as well as a military comfort kit and stress management tools. Those services to military families are carried out solely by volunteers, Miller said.

When military families are hit with an emergency situation, the Red Cross also is able to act as official communicator with the military in an effort to get family members sent home when necessary.

“It's a very powerful service,” said Silver.

Plank personally saw this service in action. She was at Camp Pendleton when her grandson was born, and she was able to use Red Cross channels to contact her son's command in Iraq to inform him of the birth of his son.

Miller said that, on the disaster services end of the organization's operations, they respond to between 70 to 100 local incidents annually across the three counties. Many of those are home fires, where the Red Cross offers temporary housing assistance.

In such cases, the Red Cross also offers trained emotional support, as Silver pointed out that losing one's home is very traumatic.

Besides home fires, “There are a whole host of other things that can happen” – from earthquakes and floods to chemical spills, added Silver.

Silver said the Red Cross has open recruitment for volunteers, but it's during disasters that volunteers come to them.

Miller said that as long as the Lake County community supports the Red Cross, “it will be a safer community to lie in.”

Those wanting to donate to the Red Cross can do so at www.arcsm.org, www.redcross.org, can mail donations to the American Red Cross, 5297 Aero Drive, Santa Rosa, CA 95403, or can do so by phone at 707-577-7627.

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