Thanks for your stories. I hear these all the times. My uncle was in Vietnam when his father (my grandfather) was in the hospital struggling for his life after an accident . He said the Red Cross was no help, but the Salvation Army arranged to help him get back to The States. His father needed blood, but couldn't get it. Even though both of his sons were lifetime donors they couldn't get anything from the RC. SA again stepped in and paved the way for blood.
In Grand Forks North Dakota in 1979, during the fourth highest flood of the Red River of the North, the Salvation Army folks sought us out while we were patrolling the dikes in the wee hours (3AM) in the rain and made sure we had hot food to eat and hot chocolate. I'll never forget that.
Within a week, one of the Red Cross' 'disaster relief vans' had broadsided my car, and totalled it. (they failed to yield the right of way and were doing 50 or better in a 25 mph zone). Their insurance people didn't even want to pay for my car.
Guess who gets my donations?