Pee Dee chapter of American Red Cross seeks help

FLORENCE — One organization you always see in times of need, is now seeking some help of its own.

The Pee Dee chapter of the American Red Cross says it has serious issues with a leaking roof on its building.

The organization is now turning to the public to help keep its equipment dry, and its operation, running.

The local Red Cross chapter is used to dealing with emergencies, but not necessarily, its own.

On Monday morning, chapter workers and those working in the Headstart program upstairs, came into their offices only to discover that once again, the building’s roof had leaked significantly.

The Red Cross chapter shares the building with the local Headstart program that works with the area’s young children to help develop their educational needs.

“We’re really having an issue with our building, granted the building is a little bit old, it was built in the (19)50s and the ceiling definitely needs to be replaced,” said Linda Boone-Smith, executive director of the Pee Dee chapter of the American Red Cross. “We’ve been repairing the ceiling probably every two to three weeks. By the time we repair one place, the leak moves to another place,” Boone-Smith said.

The situation was also dire in the upstairs portion of the building, where tar leaking from the roof stained the walls, and destroyed equipment and documents in the Headstart offices.

“Well we were horrified...we have concerns about the new carpet that was put into this particular room ... it’s now totally ruined,” said Headstart director Kathryn Woods. “They tell us it will take several days before the roof dries up and will stop draining in,” Woods said.

Rain water got into light fixtures, and destroyed equipment, supplies and essential paperwork.

But workers say the worst part is, this isn’t the first time it’s happened.

In fact, Boone-Smith said they’ve tried to temporarily fix the problem on several occasions, but they’ve run out of temporary fixes.

“This is not a situation where we can put a band-aid on it anymore, we’re gonna have to have the entire roof, repaired,” said Boone-Smith.

The Red Cross says they simply don’t have the funding to make the necessary repairs on the roof.

Chapter officials, as well as those working in the Headstart program upstairs, say all of their money goes toward helping families in need.

Now, when they’re in need, they’re hoping someone will return the favor.

“We serve over 899 children, of course the Red Cross is always there when there is a fire in the community, now we need the community to give us some assistance,” Woods said.

“We’re there for our community, and we’re in a situation right now where we really need the community to step in and be there for us,” Boone-Smith said.

Red Cross officials say it will likely cost near $50,000 to repair the roof, and they have virtually no reserves to come up with the funding because of past debt and their continual assistance to families in need.

If you’d like to provide services or supplies to help fix the chapter’s roof, just call the Pee Dee chapter of the American Red Cross at (843)-662-8121, ext.124.