If you need the Red Cross, it will be there.

Less certain is who is providing -- or paying for -- the service.

The organization with perhaps the most recognizable name in the world isn't a single group.

The American Red Cross counts more than 750 chapters. There are at least 26 in Virginia, with a confusing array of boundaries.

If the wife of a soldier deployed from Fort Lee lives in Chesterfield County but has a baby in Petersburg, the Red Cross will track down the soldier to share the news. But which Red Cross will jump into action? Each of the neighboring localities is served by a different chapter.

"The line does get blurred around the fringes," said Reginald E. Gordon, CEO of the Greater Richmond Chapter. "That's why relationships are key."

Those relationships have become closer in the past year after the Red Cross restructured its U.S. operations. The Richmond chapter was one of four in the state tapped to oversee smaller chapters, replacing a system that had many chapters reporting to a service center in Raleigh, N.C.

"There was some angst about this organizational structure," Gordon said. "We now try to talk in terms of one Red Cross and community presence. So far, it's been friendly. We're all in the same family.

"The onus is on us to develop a common message. We can't expect the community to distinguish between [chapters]."

The chief of the Hopewell/Prince George Chapter likes the new arrangement.

"We're pretty independent," said Mary W. Atterholt, executive director of the chapter since the summer of 2004. "If I need help, I'm going to call Richmond.

"When you were reporting to Raleigh, it was mainly a paper trail. Now I have a live body. I feel like I've got actual people who are in the same business I am, doing the same type of work."

Rosalyn B. Andrews, the executive director of the Southside Area Chapter, agreed.

"I think it's working very well," she said. "Like with anything new and different, you're always kicking and screaming. But it's a good working relationship."

The three chapters, plus those in Halifax and Fredericksburg, share the same problems, too.

The biggest problem, officials at several area chapters said, comes through the mail.

When you write the words "Red Cross" on your check, there are many ways it can be interpreted -- and as many directions the money can be sent.

"When we're out raising money, it's for this particular chapter, the Greater Richmond Chapter," Gordon said. "Here's where it gets tricky: During a disaster, people give money to the Red Cross. Those checks go straight to the national chapter because it's obvious what their intent was."

Donations that seem more general in nature are split with the national office. Donations specific in spirit but not in writing get split, too.

"So when that money comes in the door, we really pay a lot of attention to that memo line," Gordon said.

So how do you ask potential donors to be even more specific?

"It's almost like public radio," Gordon said. "People turn on the dial and expect it to be there. But you have to pause at some point and say, we're only able to do this because of you."

Atterholt takes the direct approach. "I never miss the opportunity to ask for a donation," she said.

No matter where the money comes from, the Red Cross will keep doing what it has been doing since 1881: helping people.

"If we're not here, there's no other support system," Andrews said.

And that's not an option, Gordon said. "We do know America expects us to be present whenever there's a challenge."

And if that soldier from Fort Lee whose Chesterfield wife had a baby in Petersburg, who's serving them?

Atterholt, whose chapter is in charge of Fort Lee, said she wouldn't quibble over boundaries. "If they call here, I'm going to serve them."
Contact Zachary Reid at (804) 775-8179 or zreid@timesdispatch.com.