LIBERTY — As part of a national territorial realignment by the American Red Cross, the local Lake to River Chapter in Liberty has now become the American Red Cross of Greater Akron and the Mahoning Valley.

Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties as well as Medina, Portage and Summit now are included under the Greater Akron and Mahoning Valley Region with the new chapter Executive Director Rachel Telegdy.

The ARC has formed the new ARC Northern Ohio Region, which was formerly the ARC Northeast Ohio Region, and includes the Greater Akron and Mahoning Valley Region, explained Mike Parks, regional CEO of the Northern Ohio Region.

“This new territorial realignment is not a downsizing, but a structural adjustment to better serve our critical mission and represent our local communities. Whether you are living in a county that is now joining our region or you are in a county that is merging with another chapter, I want to assure you that– as it was in the past and will continue to be in the future — the Red Cross will always be present and ready to serve your community,” Parks said.

Jim McIntyre, communications and marketing manager for the ARC, said the American Red Cross of Greater Akron and the Mahoning Valley will continue to be headquartered in Cleveland under the Northern Ohio Region.

Parks said the realignment initiative will align biomedical and humanitarian services geographies across the country.

He said as part of the new territorial realignment structure, the Red Cross will transition from 263 to 235 chapters and from 58 to 50 regions nationally. The new Northern Ohio Region will expand from 22 counties to 31 counties and will represent more than 5.3 million residents.

“While the new region will maintain a five-chapter structure, the geographic boundaries of the chapters, along with some chapter names, will change to better align people and resources to meet the needs of local communities and to ensure a chapter’s capacity to support blood collection,” Parks said.

“There are little staff changes at the local chapter. The office will remain at the Belmont Avenue location. No local services will be affected,” McIntyre said.

But Liberty resident Karen Conklin, who served the past 10 years with the ARC most recently as the executive director of the Lake to River chapter, said she retired April 3.

“The changes with realigning blood services and humanitarian services will benefit the Red Cross. We had been hearing about this for some time,” she said.

Conklin said she looks forward to her retirement after a career of 50 years in nonprofits.

“I am excited to be starting the next chapter of my life. I was blessed with all that I was able to do for the public. I enjoyed my time with the America Red Cross,” she said.

bcoupland@tribtoday.com