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Local folks do their part By BILL KETTLER With spare change and bank checks and blood, Rogue Valley residents pitched in Wednesday to help the victims of terrorist attacks in Washington and New York. Hundreds of people gave money to the Red Cross disaster relief fund at an improvised collection station at the busy intersection of McAndrews Road and Riverside Avenue in Medford. In Ashland, some people waited in line for an hour or more to give blood. By day's end, the Red Cross had collected about 300 units of blood and about $26,000 since the attacks began Tuesday morning. "I wish the (blood) collections unit had more staff," said Pamela Tennity, the Red Cross' head nurse for blood collection in Southern Oregon. "We could have taken hundreds more today." "People feel a desperate need to help," said Susan Kelley, who collected donations in front of Lithia Toyota. "They're so horrified by what they've seen." Kelley and others called to motorists stopped in traffic for contributions. "Some were digging in their cars for change," she said. "Other people were giving me a 20-dollar bill, or two 20s. One person brought in four $50 checks from a dentist's office. "You see little kids coming with their piggy banks, and it breaks your heart," said Kelley, station manager at KTVL-TV. "But it makes you feel better." Kelley lived in Oklahoma City when a terrorist bomb killed almost 200 people. She said Rogue Valley residents seem to be taking the New York bombings personally despite the distance between Oregon and New York. "They're sad and they're mad," she said, "and they kept saying (as they gave money), 'This is what Americans do.' " Proceeds from the Mail Tribune's Tuesday special edition raised an additional $4,000 to $5,000 for disaster relief. One man wrote a $2,000 check for the 25-cent special edition. "It's the least I could do," said the 84-year-old Medford resident, who asked to remain anonymous. "It's a terrible thing," he said. "I just hope we'll figure out who's responsible." As disaster workers combed the wreckage of the World Trade Center towers for survivors, several local Red Cross volunteers were preparing to join the relief effort. Terry Haines, emergency services director for the Red Cross' Rogue Valley chapter, said Mike Sovia of Medford and Bill and Esther Blakely of Grants Pass will travel to New York as soon as restrictions on air travel are lifted. Haines said Sovia will assess structural damage in residences near the World Trade Center and the Blakelys will work as volunteer coordinators, assigning tasks to other volunteers. Local Red Cross mental-health counselors could be dispatched to New York next week to help survivors cope emotionally with the disaster, he said. Haines said many people call the Red Cross to offer help during disasters, but volunteers need training to provide real assistance. "If you can't do something, you're not of much use," Haines said. "You have to be a local volunteer before you can be a national volunteer." Haines said the Red Cross will offer a series of disaster-response classes beginning next week and continuing through early October. The introductory class, which is the prerequisite for all others, begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Red Cross office, 60 Hawthorne St. The class is free. Haines said the Red Cross needs more volunteers to be able to respond to local disasters as well as those that command national attention. "I need at least another 75 to 100 volunteers in Jackson and Josephine counties," he said, "to respond to local disasters." Tennity, the Red Cross nurse, said people who want to donate blood should call the Red Cross blood collection center (773-3813) to schedule an appointment. "We'll get to everybody," she said, "but it will take some time. "We're going to need blood for a long time to come. Burn victims need a tremendous amount of blood." Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.