Local News in Brief : Countywide : Red Cross Solicits Hurricane Donations

The county chapter of the American Red Cross is accepting financial donations for victims of Hurricane Gilbert, which killed hundreds of people in its passage through the Caribbean to the Gulf Coast and Mexico.

Since Thursday, the chapter has received 171 calls, mostly offering money and services, clothing and food for victims, said Nancy Dolan, volunteer public relations officer for the local chapter of the disaster relief organization.

Twenty callers were seeking the whereabouts of missing friends and relatives in Mexico and Jamaica, she said.

Marti Aspergren of San Clemente said she and her husband still have no word about their daughter and son-in-law, the couple’s two children and friends, who had been sailing off the Yucatan Peninsula.

Telephone service has not been interrupted in Texas; some communications have been restored in Mexico, Dolan said.

“The biggest problem is Jamaica, where we’re trying t help out,” Dolan said.

The local chapter will be accepting inquiries starting at 7 a.m. today at (714) 835-5381. Financial contributions are preferred and can be sent to:

Hurricane Gilbert Relief, Orange County Red Cross, P.O. Box 11364, Santa Ana 92711. Donors should indicate whether the money is earmarked for Mexico, the United States or Jamaica.