COUNTYWIDE : Red Cross Mounts Gulf Crisis Drive

The county chapter of the American Red Cross announced an Orange County Gulf Crisis Campaign on Thursday, part of a national effort to raise $30 million to help the families of U.S. troops and refugees from the Gulf War.

Officials said the chapter has been asked to contribute about $215,000 to the campaign. Of the $30 million expected to be raised nationally, the American Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross will use $20 million to provide food, medical supplies, and shelter to displaced people and refugees.

About $10 million will be used to help reduce the emotional and financial pressures of the war on U.S. military personnel and their families.

MainPlace/Santa Ana shopping center is asking Orange County businesses to pledge $1,000 each to meet the local Red Cross efforts, said Judith Bijlani, the center’s senior marketing director.

“If 500 businesses donated $1,000 each, we could take care of the financial urgency at hand,” Bijlani said. “It is our sincere desire to somehow help with the bigger picture. . . . This will show (the troops) we’re behind them and this is a neat way to do something.”

The first 500 businesses to respond to the challenge will be invited to a “Red, White and Blue Spectacular” on May 18, an evening of festivities to celebrate peace in the Gulf and the return of U.S. troops.

“Our funds have never been lower, while at the same time, the need for our services is greater,” said Donald F. Karcher, chairman of the board of the Orange County chapter and president of Carl Karcher Enterprises, parent company of Carl’s Jr. Karcher announced that Rick Muth, president of Orco Block Co., will head the chapter’s emergency campaign.

“The current crisis can’t allow us to take a business-as-usual attitude,” said Jeff Rocke, vice president of marketing for the United Way of Orange County. The local United Way pledged $50,000 in January to “challenge others to give back to the community.”

The local United Way and Red Cross chapters worked in conjunction to develop an “Operation Homefront Resource Guide,” a bilingual pamphlet distributed through the armed forces and filled with phone numbers of Red Cross support services, military support groups, discrimination assistance and counseling information.

Last August, the Red Cross “immediately began their traditional program of starting emergency communication services to military families, placing volunteers in military hospitals,” issuing emergency grants and no-interest loans, and providing counseling services, assistant chapter manager Paula Herrera said.

Herrera added that the national campaign will help the chapter provide workshops for families to discuss the problems of readjusting to their peacetime roles.

Any of the numbers listed in the Operation Homefront guide can be obtained by calling the United Way Info Partner system at (714) 253-7766 (English) and (714) 253-7799 (Spanish). Copies of the guide can be obtained by calling the United Way of Orange County at (714) 660-7600.

Information regarding the emergency drive can be obtained by calling (714) 835-5381 or checks can be sent to the American Red Cross, 601 North Golden Circle Drive, Santa Ana, Calif. 92711-1364.