NATCHEZ &045; It’s early in the school year, but the Adams County Red Cross chapter has gotten its first mark.

&uot;You get an A plus,&uot; Robin Hayes, of Hattiesburg, said.

Her deciding factor?

&uot;Organization. Hattiesburg isn’t organized like it is here,&uot; she said.

Hayes was one of the 2,340 people who picked up checks totaling $2.78 million Wednesday at the Natchez Convention Center on Day 3 of the Red Cross’ relief effort. She waited nearly eight hours for that check but, like the others, didn’t mind the wait as long as she knew the Red Cross was doing what it promised.

&uot;The purpose of the Red Cross is to get services out to people,&uot; the Red Cross’ Lori Rosen said. &uot;And if we’re providing it at a faster levelŠ&uot;

Then a whole, whole lot of people will come.

Originally, Red Cross organizers thought that the demand would begin to diminish as the week wore on and local evacuees got their checks. Word of their efficiency got out, however, and people are coming from all over to get help.

Reginald Griffin heard about the Natchez operation on the Internet. The New Orleans native drove from Lafayette with fianc D’Andrea Johnson to get help he couldn’t find there.

&uot;They told me they were over here helping with financial assistance and we weren’t getting any in Lafayette,&uot; he said.

Seven hours into their wait, Griffin said he felt good about the way the situation was being addressed in Natchez and that he &uot;was lucky to find out about it.&uot;

Griffin’s good feeling was shared by Mike Giles, a member of the SWAT team from Tenn. helping with security.

Giles reported a modicum of line-cutting and an arrest for selling marijuana in previous days, but said he was impressed by how people comported themselves in a tough situation.

&uot;Relatively, things have been great, everybody’s been orderly and I can’t tell you how many times people have come up and said, ‘Hey, we appreciate you being here.’ It makes us feel real good,&uot; he said.

Ironically, it is the very success of the program that ensures its end on Friday.

The aid won’t stop then, but the trend of the first days suggests that there will be lines up State Street as long as there is relief being given out of the convention center, a task that no local chapter is equipped to deal with.

The chapter plans to begin giving aid through appointments at its office on North Union Street by the middle of next week.

The only reason the chapter has been able to deliver the volume it has, members said, is because of the tremendous amount of help they’ve received from volunteers outside of the area.

&uot;If it weren’t for the group of volunteers who have come in and worked and dedicated days to this,&uot; Rosen said. &uot;Our success would not be nearly as good as it is.&uot;

One of their successes so far has been limiting the number of people getting multiple checks. As each person signs in, their information is checked against the files of previous visitors, those caught coming back are escorted out of the building.

The end-of-the-day accounting gives them a list of those who snuck under the radar multiple times. A list of the first two days’ offenders &045; 24 names in all &045; adorned each file box on the registration table.

The list got one shorter Wednesday when a local man was spotted trying to claim a check. Police Chief Mike Mullins said he would be charged with a felony.

Red Cross officials stressed that each chapter office nationwide is equipped to deliver assistance to evacuees; the only thing affecting performance is volume of request.

&uot;You can go to Cincinnati Ohio and get aid, but if there are 1,000 people there, you’re going to have to wait,&uot; chapter executive Stan Owens said.

The Red Cross has also set up an emergency phone bank that can deliver the same services as found at the convention center. The number is 1-800-975-7585. Callers should have basic information, a pencil and paper.

Whether it’s in person or by telephone, the aid will help people take the next step, whatever that may be.

Linda Skipper, who’s housing 15 relatives from the affected area, said Wednesday’s check is just the first step.

&uot;I think that once they get to go down there and see the damage to their property that there is no more house and there won’t be, I think they’ll be able to start putting themselves back together and move on.&uot;