A substance abuse center “Reflections” was opened at Lockport Memorial Hospital. Much credit must be given to the Red Cross Committee which has been working on this since 1981 and has now transferred its effort to help the hospital.

A fax machine and Easy Link (direct communication with National for Service to Armed Forces) were added to office equipment.

1991-1992 – The Eastern Niagara County Chapter is now 75 years old and still going strong. Our blood collections are down somewhat, but we are working hard to bring them up. The CPR and first aid programs are growing with a 22% increase in First Aid certificates issued and a 12% increase in CPR. We still offer blood pressure screening periodically at the Lockport Mall and health fairs.

The Disaster Program went over budget by 40% but our charter mandates this program and these needs must be met.

The Youth Program consists of babysitting training, basic aid training, and the car seat loan program.

The hospital equipment loan closet has provided temporary relief to many people in the community at no cost. The Water Safety program is continually being updated, making it safer and more state of the art.

Our Assistant Director spent three weeks in Louisiana helping the victims of the largest hurricane ever to hit the United States-Hurricane Andrew. Our Chapter now has been assessed $20,595. which will certainly be a great challenge (hopefully, not impossible!)

1992-1993 – Disaster costs down this year but sent $905. to National. Major disasters climbing. Zonta Club of Lockport donated $5,000. to the Chapter for disaster equipment. Purchased cots, blankets, and supplies to enable us to set up a shelter for 100 people, per a mandate from New York State.

House: Added new carpeting and storage shed to property at 178 East Ave.

Blood: Collections at 86% of goal. Keep meeting to see what we can do to increase donations, but donations are down nationwide.

1993-1994 – Disaster cost 23% over budget. Two local volunteers involved in relief work in flood ravaged Georgia. Blood collections at 77% of goal. FDA regulating volunteer procedures. Lost many of our long time volunteers as staff has had to take over volunteer positions. Decrease in blood reimbursement.

CPR- Retraining of CPR instructors. Now offering six new CPR and First Aid courses.

Fund Raising: With United Way reductions, our chapter had to begin doing fundraising (first time in 20 years). We sold Red Cross candy in conjunction with Buffalo, and made $536;decided not to do that again. We also ran our first “Sock Hop” netting $1,207. Lots of fun with everyone dressing up in 50s garb but most of the money was made from the Chinese Auction.

1994-1995 – First Community Campaign with media help from National. “Help Can’t Wait” is the theme and is now printed on all letterheads and envelopes.

Disaster: 57% over goal; mostly due to setting up a shelter at South Lockport Fire Hall, taking care of 18 families burned out in an apartment building on Robinson Road. Terrible bombing of government building in Oklahoma City killed 187 persons. Since Timothy McVeigh (the suspected bomber) was from the town of Pendleton—which is in our territory—many people donated disaster monies to this Chapter; but it is restricted to use in Oklahoma City.

Blood- 86% of goal. Tried Bloodmobiles for the midnight shift at Harrison but collections not worth it; certainly was not cost effective.

Member & Funds: Sock Hop again netting $1700.

House: Looking at different places for sale for new Chapter House that will be handicapped accessible.

1995-1996 – Disaster expenses under budget this year but disaster budget raised after last year’s expenditures.

Blood: We became one of the state’s first “Communities that Care” for the summer collections. Blood collections still down.

Members & Funds: Had Sock Hop netting $2000. Plans underway to sell Gund brand stuffed animals at Christmas.

House: Miriam Morris bequeathed our Chapter $100,000. so we decided to go ahead quickly with new house plans. Had house plans drawn up according to our specifications, got three bids (Rosati Construction lowest bid), and purchased property on Davison Road. Ground breaking was December 5, 1995. Many decisions have been made on siding, roofing, colors, carpets, etc. We will be moving in this summer. The Chapter house on East Ave. is up for sale. Really an exciting time, but so many big decisions!

1996-1997 – Moving day Friday, July 19,1996. We had to be open for business Monday…and we were!!! Thank you staff (I had a broken toe and wasn’t much help), Board members, and families. Everyone worked hard, fast and efficiently.

We held an “Open House” in August, 1997 which proved to be successful with 100 people attending. We served snacks, punch and cake and gave tours (proudly)! A large red ribbon was cut at the front of the building for its official opening. The work crew from the Niagara County Jail did an excellent job in providing the landscaping!

Disaster: The disaster budget went crazy this year (ending at 138%) with two apartment fires on Robinson Rd. Sent letters to Service Organizations requesting disaster funds to help our budget and received $4,174. This community really comes through in times of need!

Blood: Had our first Bloodmobile Drive at our Chapter House in February, 1997. It was very successful and we will continue to have mobiles here every other month on the 2^nd and 4^th Tuesdays. Even with the new mobiles, the blood collections are down and so is communication with the blood center—an ongoing problem.

Fundraising: We seem to be doing a lot more fundraising now than we have in the past. Along with selling the Gund animals (which has proved to be very successful) we replaced our Sock Hop with a Chiavetta’s Chicken Barbecue. We made a profit of $1,375. the first time and ran out of chicken in two hours. Next year…more chicken! With the expertise of our Board members, we had the first “Drive Thru” Chicken BBQ and the community loved it.

1997-1998 – This year a shed was donated to us; it was placed in our back yard and we had it sided to match the house. We also had awnings and shutters attached to the house. With each addition, the building looks better and better. A great year for flowers and our Salvias and Geraniums were beautiful.

Disaster: Normal disaster year. We had a restructuring of the Disaster Team giving each worker a pager and also assigning them defined after-duty evenings and weekends.

Blood: The Bloodmobiles are doing well in the Chapter house. We added two more Bloodmobile Drives this year. Donors enjoy coming here and it provides great visibility.

Fund-raising: We added another chicken barbecue selling 820 chickens. We have quite a system for drive-thru. 18 Board members helped on BBQ day!!

Health & Safety: CPR and First Aid are growing yearly. Babysitting classes have also been added to our monthly schedule.

1998-1999 – This has been a pretty normal year. Housewise, we added a new glass partition in the front entryway for added security and heating and cooling conservation. The garage was sealed and painted and a vapor barrier was added in the basement crawl space.

Disaster: Pretty normal disaster year except for the preparation of Y2K. National has come up with a very informational flyer. Along with the disaster preparedness flyer, we can offer the public a decent combination of information and suggestions.

Fund-raising: We added a January BBQ with the thought that during the winter months, no other organization in the area offers this. It was very successful selling 750 dinners. It was cold standing in the driveway, but fun. Chicken hats were ordered and all the volunteers wore them…along with a chicken suit worn by our Chairman who directed cars and drivers into the parking lot!

Health & Safety: AED (Automated External Defibrillation) training has been added to our programs and we are ready to meet the needs of the community, but the requests for training have been very slow.