Mineola is New Home Base for American Red Cross

Mineola will be the new headquarters of the American Red Cross, which is closing its Yaphank office and consolidating all Long Island operations into the  location, effective July 1.

Why Mineola? The American Red Cross owns the building, while the Yaphank location was leased, according to Red Cross spokesman Sam Kille.

“Economically, Mineola made the most sense,” he said.

The is a sign of the economic times, Kille said, explaining that organizations – even nonprofits like the American Red Cross – are subject to the ills of a bad economy.

“We must be willing to change to survive in this economy,” he said. “Across the organization we have been examining our resources and looking for ways to not only cut costs but deliver our services more efficiently.”

There will be staff reductions and according to Kille the organization would work with outgoing staff to provide for adequate compensation.

“It’s important to note that the majority of our workers are volunteers and we continue to seek more,” he said.

American Red Cross, nationally headquartered in Washington, D.C., has been in the process of change through standardized human resource policies, payroll services and consolidation of accounting services.

“By coming together, the Long Island chapter will see cost savings with vendors; fund-raising efforts won’t be hampered by borders; and where possible, we won’t be duplicating efforts – allowing us to focus our efforts on our people,” Kille said.

John Miller, the current CEO of the Suffolk County Red Cross chapter, will run the Long Island operation. He said the new structure allows for better efficiencies “particularly in times of disasters and will further improve our ability to help those in times of need. The move eliminates redundancies and consolidating functions."

The plus side according to Miller? “Red Cross personnel will have more time for mission-related service delivery and financial development.”

The American Red Cross on Long Island will continue to organize blood drives across both counties. To date, neither chapter has done this on a large scale, though they have been instrumental in supplying blood – from donations of other groups – to Long Island and New York City hospitals.

Asked what Mineola residents in particular, and Long Island residents in general, could do to advance the cause of this organization, Kille said that the organization relies “on donations from the public and we need Long Islanders to realize that we need those funds throughout the year, not just when a major incident occurs.”