American Red Cross Opens Geauga Cooling Center; Continue to Provide Ongoing Support to NE Ohio July 28 Flood Victims.

GEAUGA AND LAKE COUNTIES, Ohio -- Staff and volunteers of the American Red Cross today opened and are operating a cooling center at Notre Dame Elementary School, 13000 Auburn Road in Munson due to the extensive power outage which occurred on Monday afternoon.

The Red Cross will provide meals, snacks and beverages to those residents from Chardon and others affected by the power outage who seek respite at the Auburn Road cooling center throughout this record-breaking humid day.

Although authorities believe power will be restored at some point today, there is a contingency plan in place to convert the cooling center into an overnight Red Cross shelter if necessary.

The Red Cross is also supporting the residents evacuated to Auburn Career Center by providing meals to this facility, although it is not being run by the Red Cross.

Lake and Ashtabula county residents will continue to get Red Cross assistance following the floods that devastated those areas last week.

Lake County residents can meet with Red Cross caseworkers in Painesville at the Chase Bank Building, 30 S. Park Street, and Ashtabula County residents can go to the Red Cross Ashtabula Chapter, 433 Center Street for assistance. Both locations will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. this week.

On July 31st alone, the Red Cross opened approximately 101 client cases and distributed $80,000 for direct client assistance to affected families in Lake and Ashtabula counties to meet short-term essential needs.

What You Can Do To Help - It is now estimated that the cost of our response to the NE Ohio July Floods could top $200,000. We need the help of the community to fund this assistance to their neighbors. Financial assistance is the quickest way to get help to those who need it.

All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money by the American people. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year, disasters like the NE Ohio July 2006 floods, by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of disaster. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster, please do so at the time of your donation. Call 1-800-HELP-NOW or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish), Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to the American Red Cross, Greater Cleveland Chapter at 3747 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, Oh, 44115 or to PO Box 37243, Washington, DC, 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.

In-Kind Donations -- We encourage residents who wish to contribute in-kind donations of clothing and other household supplies to donate the items to Goodwill or to the Salvation Army.