Red Cross opens center

The Red Cross of Central New Jersey opened its disaster relief center in Princeton Township on Wednesday.

Designed as a headquarters to organize relief efforts for the surrounding counties and possibly serve as a shelter for affected families in the case of a disaster, the Alexander Road center will serve Middlesex, Mercer and Hunterdon counties as well as the southern part of Somerset County.

The 5,000 sq. ft. facility is the result of a three-year campaign called "Keeping the Promise to a Safer Community," which raised $3 million, half of which went to the purchase and outfitting of the new center.

Located across the parking lot from the chapter's headquarters, the center will also host a blood donor center with space for six donors at a time and additional training rooms for health and safety classes. If a disaster occurs, Red Cross officials will also meet with affected families and possibly let them stay in the building.

Diane Concannon, the chapter's public relations director, said the idea for the center came into being after flooding in the surrounding counties two years ago. "A lot of people realized that we're on the scene of the disaster, but there's also a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes on," she said. "That's what this center is for."

The center will take care of all the planning and strategic work, secure necessary items such as diapers, food and water from local businesses and coordinate with the national office in the case of a major disaster.

The facility can also handle up to 35 phone calls at once.

"We get calls from everything from people who want to know what's happening and how their loved ones might be, to Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops asking how they can help out, to major businesses who want to run fundraisers," Concannon said.

Concannon also stressed the University's importance to the organization. At a "Heroes of the Heart" ceremony to honor blood drive donors and sponsors, Princeton won the award for "Outstanding University Blood Program Award," and Meaghan Petersack '08 won the award for "Best Chair."

Petersack, the president of the University's Red Cross Club, said the new center would offer students better opportunities to get involved with the organization. "If it's a logistical thing, then maybe you could even make an academic partnership and write a paper," she said.

This is the first year that the club has connected with the Central New Jersey chapter, Petersack added. "In the past, we've usually only planned blood drives, but this year we've had so many underclassmen come out to our meetings, so we have a lot more manpower," she said.

The club hopes to have students teach or attend CPR classes, get disaster training and maybe even teach safety at elementary schools.

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"If a student wants to get involved, going through our club would be the best way," she said.

Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.), who represents the Township, said in an interview that he has supported the chapter for a "long time." He was present for the inauguration of the center on Wednesday.

"Many people in the community will be helped, most of whom don't even know now that they'll be helped," he said, adding that he expects the new facility to attract more volunteers.

Holt also urged local residents to donate blood at the new center. "If for no other reason than that sometime, unexpectedly, they should be on the receiving end," he said, "people should now be on the giving end."