BAY AREA QUAKE : Red Cross Leads Efforts to Shelter Thousands of Quake Homeless

The American Red Cross, already overtaxed by the Hurricane Hugo disaster in South Carolina last month, is leading efforts in volunteerism by sheltering more than 7,500 earthquake victims in the San Francisco Bay Area.

With President Bush publicly commending the work of volunteers, Red Cross officials say their most concentrated effort is in Santa Cruz County, where 280 homes have been destroyed and another 80 are too damaged to live in.

The Red Cross is maintaining about 30 shelters in the Bay Area, most of them in public schools in San Francisco, Alameda and Santa Cruz counties. The largest is in the Moscone Convention Center.

“We may have to accommodate up to 10,000 persons a night,” Chris Garrett, a spokeswoman for the Red Cross, said. “Many residents have been told their homes are unsafe to occupy until needed repairs are made.”

Meanwhile, the Salvation Army has stepped up efforts to feed hundreds of older citizens in the Tenderloin District who have been without electricity or gas to cook with.

While 1,300 hot meals normally are served daily, that number has jumped to 2,200 since the earthquake, according to Lt. Col. Bruce Harvey, divisional commander of the organization.

Dozens of smaller volunteer groups also have pitched in to ease the suffering. One of them, Project Open Hand, which distributes 700 meals a day to AIDS patients, has been furnishing 10 times that number to residents of the Marina District who have been without shelter or the means to cook for themselves.

Garrett said the disaster is so widespread that the Red Cross relief efforts may exceed the record $42 million spent to assist victims of Hurricane Hugo.

That hurricane on Sept. 21 caused property damage of up to $3 billion and left thousands of people homeless.

WHERE TO DONATE

People and groups wanting to help victims of the Northern California earthquake may contact these organizations:

Catholic: National Catholic Disaster Relief Committee, 1319 F St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20004. (202) 639-8400. Locally, 1531 W. 9th St., Los Angeles 90015. Attn: Msgr. Stephen Blaire. Checks should be made to “Archdiocese of Los Angeles” and designated for “San Francisco earthquake relief.”

Church World Service, Attn: California Earthquake Response, PO Box 968, Elkhart, Ind. 46515, or Church World Service, 1401 21st St. (Room 320), Sacramento 95814. (916) 448-5917.

Red Cross: To donate blood, call (213) 739-5290. For financial contributions, (800) 453-9000. Cash can be sent to the American Relief Disaster Fund, PO Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013, earmarked for “San Francisco disaster relief.”

American Jewish World Service, 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10104. (212) 468-7383. Cash donations.

Episcopal Church: The Presiding Bishop’s Fund World Relief, The Episcopal Church Center, 815 2nd Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017. (800) 334-7626.

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Central Treasury Service, 100 Witherspoon, Louisville, Ky. 40202. Checks designated for “Bay Area earthquake relief fund.”

Salvation Army, 900 W. 9th St., Los Angeles 90015, or nearest Salvation Army unit for cash donations. Also needed at Los Angeles office: portable gas generators, cots, blankets, tents, jackets. (213) 627-5571.

Direct Relief International, PO Box 30820, Santa Barbara 93130. (805) 687-3694. Cash to send medical supplies to Santa Cruz.

Operation California/USA, 7615 1/2 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles 90046. (213) 658-8876. Cash; electric generation equipment and water purification and storage equipment from corporate donors.