The American Red Cross has long been a part of the Brookhaven community, but with the new office location the organization just became more prominent.

     The move from 110 Monticello St. to 121 West Cherokee St. took a few months to complete, but it provided the Brookhaven Red Cross office with many benefits.

     “It’s giving us a more prominent space in the community,” said Sandra Hodges, the chief executive officer for the American Red Cross of Mississippi. “This larger space is more accessible to our clients.”

     The office officially opened Tuesday after a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the location. Red Cross volunteers and workers were on hand, as well as members of the community.

     “We’re thankful for having them here,” said Cliff Brumfield, executive director of the Brookhaven-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce. “They’ve been a great benefit to our community.”

     Brookhaven is part of the Capital River chapter, which serves 16 counties. Janice Sawyer, the chapter readiness and response manager, said Brookhaven serves as one of the main offices for the chapter.

     “It serves a large community,” she said. “

     The Red Cross played a large part in assisting victims during and after Hurricane Katrina. However, Lewis Herrington, the chapter’s community emergency coordinator, said the Red Cross doesn’t just help during disasters.

     “We help during other things … house fires, drownings,” he said. “We do everything.”

     To help with both natural disasters and other emergencies, the Brookhaven office has two disaster relief trucks ready.

     One truck houses supplies such as food and first aid kits. The other truck has cots, blankets, water, generators and other equipment needed during an emergency.

     “We can get a shelter up if we need to,” Herrington said. “If anything major happened, we’d be ready.”

     Herrington said another step the Red Cross is taking to help the community is offering the Salvation Army the use of its office space.

     “I want to get a good close net [going] with the Salvation Army,” he said.

     For now, members of the Salvation Army work out of the Red Cross office one day a week, but Capt. Rick Boone said that would hopefully change soon.

     “It’s a lot better,” Boone said. “We need a more visible presence here anyway.” 

     Boone said many times people would need help from both agencies, and would have to go to two different places to get it.

     “There’s some things they do that we don’t, and vice versa,” he said. “[This way] all the bases are covered.”

     Besides disaster relief, the Red Cross office also offers health and safety classes such as CPR and life guarding.

     The new office is open Monday – Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information, call 601-833-2771.