The Southern Maryland Chapter of the American Red Cross will be shuttered and its office in La Plata closed on September 2nd. Services provided out of that office will be switching to the American Red Cross of Central Maryland, located in Baltimore, according to Douglas Lent, a spokesperson for that agency.

Southern Maryland Red Cross CEO Mike Zabko said he had been hearing rumors but they have received nothing in writing. Zabko has a staff of three. Lent said they would work with the staff to try to get them reassigned, but he added that the Red Cross is cutting down on staff all over the country,
Lent said the decision was financial. “It’s an effort to save administrative costs so we can provide disaster relief and continue to operate,” he said. Lent insisted that the disaster relief effort and services to military families will continue in Southern Maryland.
Lent said that 90 percent of the services provided by the American Red Cross come from volunteers. He said those volunteers will continue to work in the community and training will continue to be provided from Baltimore. He said the training would occur in the community wherever it was needed.
Noting that the American Red Cross gets no government funding, Dent said he hoped that the Southern Maryland community would continue to provide financial support. “It is the only way that the Red Cross has been able to function for the past 90 years,” he said.
“It was a hard decision, a very, very tough decision,” Lent said
Calvert County Commissioner President Susan Shaw [R] said county government provides office space to local Red Cross.  “We rely on them, they provide a phenomenal service,” she said .
Commissioner Gerald W. “Jerry” Clark [R], who is also president of the Tri-County Council of Southern Maryland, said,  “Maybe we want to look at this as a tri-county thing. It’s a very important function.”
Calvert County Department of Public Works Director Terry Carlson said, “When we’ve had tornadoes and other storms they were always the first responders.”
Calvert County Department of Community Resources Director Maureen Hoffman said, “After a fire, they are always there with the funds for lodging and providing cards from Wal-Mart for purchasing materials.”
 

Red Cross Services for Military Families
http://rdcrss.org/atDCjr

Get Trained (Health and Safety)
http://rdcrss.org/f0iez

Give and Get Involved (Donate/Volunteer)
http://rdcrss.org/vJN9y