Continued: Red Cross' Twin Cities chapter to lay off 15, end transportation services

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Hard economic times have hit the local American Red Cross, forcing the Twin Cities chapter to lay off 15 employees, leave 10 vacant positions empty and cut a 30-year-old transportation program that gave elderly and poor people free rides to medical appointments.

Individual donations between July and October were down 70 percent from what Red Cross officials had budgeted. To make matters worse, the disaster relief agency also has taken a hit on its investment income.

"Right now we're tightening our belts like everyone else," said Sue Richter, interim chief executive officer. For 2009, the agency has reduced its budget to $7 million, down from $10 million in 2008.

The local chapter's paid staff will shrink from 63 to 48 and the agency will rely more on its 1,200 volunteers to run its services. That means more volunteers will be doing everything from responding to crises, teaching health and public safety courses to answering the telephone, Richter said.

In July 2006, the chapter merged its St. Paul and Minneapolis operations. Since then, the agency cut 39 jobs to contend with lower contributions, reduced United Way funding and the rising cost of disaster relief.

Local Red Cross officials realized a month ago "that we were looking at a very serious situation with the economy,'' Richter said. In response, the agency decided not to fill 10 vacant positions, she said.

Paring down the budget meant focusing the agency's money, resources and volunteers on its core businesses, including disaster relief, teaching health and safety courses and helping to keep military families connected, Richter said.

It also means eliminating its transportation program, which provided 76,520 rides to 1,722 clients this year. The program will end in March, giving the agency time to look for other organizations that can fill that gap.

"We are committed to our core programs," Richter said. "When the economy isn't good, we've had to do things like this in the past. And then when there's a turnaround and things begin to improve, then the Red Cross, like other businesses, can grow and expand. So right now, we're getting down to the basics."

Staff Writer Tim Harlow contributed to this report. Mary Lynn Smith • 612-673-4788

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