East County cancer patients and survivors may soon have to travel farther to take advantage of American Cancer Society resources.

The nonprofit's Moorpark field office at 301 Science Drive may close down at the end of November if its lease is not renewed. The communities the office serves include Moorpark, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills and Westlake Village.

According to director of marketing and communications Jeb Baird, the ACS is reviewing the lease agreement, but no decision has yet been made.

"A lot of things go into making a decision like this. We always review leases when they're up for renewal to ensure that funds are well spent," he said.

Three employees—two fulltime, one part-time—coordinate fundraising efforts and assist cancer patients at the Moorpark site.

The local office was opened in November 2005, when the Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley offices were consolidated there.

"Moorpark was identified, in part, because it was a location between these two communities," Baird said.

Now the cancer society may be forced to consolidate operations even more to make up for a drop in donations, which officials attribute to the stalled economy.

However, any closing or consolidation of offices won't affect volunteers and cancer patients served by the Moorpark office, Baird said.

"Patient service programs are not dependent on a physical field office," he said.

All California patient services of the cancer society are coordinated through the Stephanie H. Lane Cancer Resource Network, which allows local ACS employees and volunteers to focus on service delivery, income development, volunteer recruitment and collaborations, according to Baird.

These reassurances, however, were not comforting to volunteers and cancer patients who feel strongly about keeping a local cancer society home base.

"Not having a local office would be a burden on volunteers and patients," said Susan Myers, who chairs the Simi Valley/Moorpark ACS Community Council.

The council is made up of about 20 volunteers who help coordinate programs for cancer patients, including Road to Recovery, Look Good Feel Good and Relay for Life events organized in the eight cities served by the Moorpark office.

Myers pointed out that more than 364,000 people live in this area, meaning that hundreds would be affected by the move. Myers is also executive director for the Simi Valley Hospital Foundation and Adventist Home Care Services.

"I know (ACS) doesn't want donated dollars going to overhead costs because their whole mission is to pay for research education, advocacy and support," she said, "but at the same time, we're hoping to keep a local office here for the sake of the patients who use the programs and the volunteers who provide the services."

Myers suggested the ACS should seek a new local office with a cheaper rent.

Simi Valley resident Teddi Maravelas, a breast cancer survivor and an active ACS volunteer for more than eight years, said the loss of the Moorpark office would have a great impact.

"That office is like Grand Central Station," Maravelas said. "People are always coming in and out, getting help with all sorts of things. . . . All those people would be forced to drive to Ventura."

Maravelas, who's lost four family members to cancer, called the staff at the ACS office in Moorpark "incredible."

"Nobody realizes how homey that office is," she said. "If it were to be moved or closed, you'd lose that closeness, that sense of family that's there."

Maravelas said during her time volunteering for ACS she created a database of 1,600 survivors in the eight communities the office serves.

"I know they're a nonprofit and they're working on a tight budget, but you just hope that there's some other way they can deal with the problem aside from closing that office," she said. "It means a lot to a lot of people."