Red Cross

American Red Cross President Elizabeth Hanford Dole said her agency has violated no antitrust laws with an exclusive contract to sell a possible new blood-scrubbing technology. Dole made the remarks on a day the Red Cross celebrated the 50th anniversary of its blood services and an almost completed $287-million reorganization effort.

The American Red Cross of Ventura County announced Friday its 1996 training schedule for volunteer disaster workers. The classes are free and the Red Cross offers an array of courses designed to fit the talents and interests of volunteers. All volunteers must take the four-hour Introduction to Disaster Services class, which provides information about the role of the Red Cross in aiding disaster victims.

The Ventura County Red Cross chapter is appealing for donations in the wake of house fires in Ventura, Oxnard and El Rio this week. "This has been a particularly tragic week with seven children involved in these fires," said Richard Rink, director of Red Cross Disaster Services. "There were no injuries involved, but it has been particularly hard on the children who have lost their homes and their possessions."

The American Red Cross is hoping to use a ghoulish holiday to its advantage by holding a blood drive and Halloween celebration at the Glendale Adventist Medical Center. "Donating blood is serious business," said Beth Powis, a spokeswoman for the hospital. But the Red Cross is hoping to use the holiday inspire more donations. "It was the Red Cross' idea to hold a drive on Halloween this year," Powis said. "They wanted to make it more fun." During the blood drive, to be held from 9:45 a.m. to 3 p.

The Better Business Bureau, acting on complaints from donors to the American Red Cross and critical reports about post-Sept. 11 fund-raising, has asked the group for information to help determine whether it still meets bureau standards for charities. "Certainly, the information we're asking for is out of the routine," H. Art Taylor, president and chief executive officer of the bureau's Wise Giving Alliance, said in an interview Saturday.

Back on the eve of World War I, Marion Kaylor knitted socks for the American Red Cross in the small town of Elizabeth, La. As an 11-year-old girl, her work helped the Doughboys keep warm during the long fight in Europe. "It made my mother feel good," Nona Gibbs said of her mom, who at 90 lives in Leisure World in Laguna Hills.

Former Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell will oversee a plan to disburse $350 million left in the American Red Cross fund for Sept. 11 attack victims and their families, the charity announced Thursday. Red Cross officials also said they will have given out nearly half of the $667-million Liberty Fund by year's end, exceeding their November pledge to disburse more than $270 million by Dec. 31. The charity has been spending the $317.

As part of an anniversary commemoration of the Northridge earthquake, the American Red Cross will offer free counseling sessions Tuesday for Los Angeles area residents who served as volunteers during its disaster relief program last year. More than 14,000 volunteers from the Los Angeles area assisted the Red Cross with their food programs, housing shelters and relocation efforts. A good many of those volunteers were not connected with the Red Cross before the quake, said Red Cross officials.

The American Red Cross has expanded its Rapid Response Corps and is looking for young adults interested in educating communities about safety and providing help in emergencies. Ninety-six people from around the country will spend 11 months teaching earthquake and emergency training to children and seniors, as well as responding to disasters locally and nationwide, officials said.

After the string of disasters that have hit Southern California in the past two years, the American Red Cross of Ventura County is waging an aggressive campaign to attract new volunteers this spring. Volunteer Chairman Lois Stephens said the Red Cross is seeking people of all ages who have time to donate--from a couple of hours each month to weeks at a stretch. "The volunteers we have who are trained have put in so many hours recently that they're just exhausted," she said.